A volcano buried Pompeii alive.
The rooves gave way.
The people breathed
In toxic gas and ash.
The lava covered them
Like thick, orange blood.
Lava from the center of the earth.
It came up to be revealed.
We can see exactly what
The bodies looked like.
Exactly how they were frozen
By the temper of the earth.
Fear, sleep, terror,
Resignation, pain.
Some clutched each other for comfort.
A man’s brain was turned to glass.
The preservation of Pompeii
Is because of its violence.
That’s how and why we know it.