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Pompeii
What imprint would your body leave
as flesh decays - frozen mid-breath?
What story would your life whisper
if ashes rained - world paused mid-death?
Life-shaped holes speck this phantom night,
soon filled with plaster - under museum light.
we see:
These star-crossed lovers beneath ashy covers,
a story of passion told—
in Fractured sighs
The wealthy lady rocking her dead baby,
a story of loss told—
in Forgotten cries
The young boy prays for a few more days
a story of hope told—
in Beautiful lies
Fractured, Forgotten, Beautiful lives
all frozen mid-death
what story would your life imprint
if ashes rained,
world paused mid-breath?

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Recently I attended a museum exhibit about Pompeii. I learned that the bodies left in the ash after explosion decayed, and those cavities were filled with plaster. There were several such plasters displayed at the exhibit. I found the analogy between these lives creating indents in the ash and the stories we leave behind in the world fanasinating and I was inspired to write a poem that captures the pain and shock of the explosion but also the beauty of the stories that became timeless.