Human compost? Not a new idea.

In a Chicago Natural History museum featuring an extensive display of ancient Egyptian artifacts, I learned that British "entrepreneurs" in the 19th century exhumed tons (tonnes) of mummies, ground them to powder, and shipped them home as garden fertilizer. As mummification was a preservation method not only for royals, but also for ordinary workers, cats, and birds, it was an organic gold mine.

I wrote a poem about this called "Of Mums and Mummies," which is included in one of my collections. Indeed, I have made arrangements for my "cremains" to be placed directly in the ground at my church, along with those of my parents and my first husband and other responsible citizens. Every spring, when the daffodils and dogwoods bloom there, I look forward to my forever future.