Pompeii

Kayla Wildman

the place where you fell –
your body made
a human-shaped hollow
in the falling ash
forever
* * *
man
you sat down to die,
scrunched up against
a wall – so sweet a pose
like a little child
playing hide and seek
* * *
four-year-old boy
your shoulders’ innocence,
your small hands’ curiosity:
a little boy well loved, trusting
the world to be good...
until the end of time
* * *
woman
no undignified running away
for you, my dear – you lay
on your back, hair coiffed, hands composed,
as though even in a coffin of hardening ash,
you wanted to be beautiful
* * *
young toddler girl
blasted
from your falling mother’s arms,
you cried out for her
and tried to crawl to her
one last time
* * *
old man
in your face
a quiet resignation
as though you worked hard
all your life and now
at last, at least, you get to rest
* * *
young couple
loving each other
you tried to take refuge
in one final,
eternal
embrace

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