poem by Beatrice Kellet from our Junior Update!
As if he had been As a final call
made out of stone. the prayer echos
He crouched and as he is shielded
prays for a saviour away forever
His body as if He’s tanned and coarse
Carved from marble The holes are filled
A light brown river with ash and
Of gravel and dust. layers of soot
Like freshly poured The holes that once
construction cement, spoke to civilians
The stench of smelled like freshly made pizza.
powder and dust Heard the bells that
attacks our eyes Chime as midday
As the wind shifts rolls around, but
the statue of That man the bells are
That man, That man blaring, flashing like sirens
Permanently preserved The screams of
as a mound of shale. people running from
Once living, breathing Il Monte Vesuvio
Forever in my mind that decided to erupt
And his rough texture He hides in a house
Breaks our skin as and prays for the
The pieces crumble Lava and fire to pass
Revealing his form. smell of smoke drowns him
His poised hands, As the cinders and fumes
Pointed up, clasped, falls down he takes a
grasped, strangled final gasp of air, and prays
Together in harmony. To be saved from this hell.
This poem is inspired by the humans preserved in ash and soot from Pompeii. The structure of the renowned poem “the grabelle man” was used so it shares a similar structure and format.
image from https://www.pompeiitours.it/blog/what-did-the-pompeii-people-look-like/