Whispered Wanderings

Such stunning views
from the rim of your
silent caldera, up above
wispy clouds and humanity…

I wonder what it must have been like
for those below in 79 AD:
I imagine the awe and wonder
at the awesome power of nature. How
it must have quickly become
absolute terror and fear for their lives
as they attempted to run
too late.

What were their last thoughts
as precious air turned to
suffocating ash, as they lay
trying to cover and save
loved ones? When there was
nowhere they could run
nowhere they could hide
to escape their terrifying fate?

And turning toward the caldera again
I see steam escaping, rising up:
a reminder she is still alive,
she does not slumber,
but bides her time as nature continues to move
within.

And then I head back down the mountain
humbled now, still awestruck,
that our earth’s beauty is a deceiving facade
for the terrifying power that it contains:

Reminding us time and again that
we must never for a moment think
that we are in control.

klm
8/10/24