After Vesuvius

Pompeii lay buried
for hundreds of years
under ashes, cinder
and stone. Slave girls
in kitchens struck down
while kneading bread,
farmers in the fields buried
in an angry sea of ash.
In the midst of destruction
a picture emerges
details of a civilization’s
culture
and its expectations.

Among the ruins, I survey
the damage, consider
how to rebuild, judges
rule against justice,
attorneys collude with the thief,
homes lost, health declining
grief rising
the remains of the volcano
don’t give evidence
to the devastation of living
to tell the story
and I lie buried
under the rubble
of attorney fees
and judges’ decrees.