Et in Arcadia ego (1618-1622), Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Dread and terrible
Deep running stream
Unlit by sun
Source of sustenance
For dark knowledge’s thirst
At this entrance
See the words
To remind us still
Et in Arcadia ego
Paradise is a moment
In the flow of time
Even here we see
You swallowed your children whole
And fell like the stone
Tasted last
Sweet death stalks all
Back to our origins
This unrelenting eye
Surveys the tapestry
The Watchers weave
Bones and robes lie
Scattered in a cave
To remind us still
Et in Arcadia ego
It is but
The moment before
A resurrection takes hold
And swift Mercury arises
To the sky
(c) Helen Valentina 2013, All Rights Reserved
helenvalentina 
Enjoyed reading this and since my Latin is a bit rusty, as in I had no clue what this meant 🙂 I HAD to go Wiki and learn … so thanks for that as well.
Thanks..true confession time…I heard the saying a few times over a few days for god knows what reason and I didn’t know what it meant either so I looked it up, and the definition plus some other interesting articles about its broader esoteric associations inspired the poem. 🙂
Enjoyed much. You seem to have captured the essence beautifully.
Thank you so much! 🙂
Magnificent
Thank you, so much appreciated!! 🙂
Loved it….but, glad I read it during the day. 😀
LOL, wasn’t meant to be frightening but I guess anything on the theme of death could be read in that light. 🙂 🙂