A GENTLER TIME

A GENTLER TIME

a gentler time
when tectonic plates
scoffed at and shunned
the very idea
Earth’s hot core
was still ripe with satire,
high science comedy

this, long before,
no floating feeling
downtown Pompeii
benign
   shadow of Vesuvius

who could guess it
mountain volcano
tell the difference, spell
out the betwixt
and between

everything
gentle peaceful at
the gladiator school
in the working class quarters
from high to
low,
paterician and slave
in this quiet day
amongst days
(one more
to chalk up to
glorious Empire)

we dug them up
preserved as
spaces
    shapes
holes in the ash

snapshot of how
they lived, selfie of
how they died

killer punchline:
the truth
of that comedy
not to be denied