Pompeii

A town, a retreat
Of lush villas and heat
Now a bleached set of ruins
Is what's there to greet

The temple here,
The Forum there,
All heard the screams
Of choking despair

These houses shuddered
Under the blast
They dropped like flies
Dead to the last

I sat nearby
The 'Carvis Carnum'
Wonder, did it bark,
When the real dogs died?

I saw plenty of those
The poor dead things
Even now as I write
The memory stings

And yes, the best
Were laid to rest
Under the same blankets of dust
As the houses of lust

Unfortunates made for the sea
The ships couldn't make it
And with nowhere to flee
Most couldn't take it

Vesuvius you devil,
Dragging everyone down,
To the same fiery level

The barren city
Once full of life
Old and young
Fortune and strife
Carts creaking places
Loved-one's faces

We owe it to them
To remember their humanity
When we snap our photos;
someone once leaned here
Someone once laughed here

But many cried
Many suffered
Many died