When Pompeii poured into the Mediterranean, 
She was warmed with the spirit of Pyrrha 
And swam north to kinder colder waters 
Because the melodious strings of Deucalion called.  

She was warmed with the spirit of Pyrrha; 
The daughter of a common pandora came alive 
Because the melodious strings of Deucalion called 
And his harp heralded an Orpheus to come. 

The daughter of a common pandora came alive 
With flames of carnelian coating her fins 
And his harp heralded an Orpheus to come, 
Though seeming so far from home. 

With flames of carnelian coating her fins, 
The seabream sought the longing of a former life. 
Though seeming so far from home, 
Pompeiian polluted waters followed her wake. 

The seabream sought the longing of a former life 
Lacking the ashen breath of past suitors; 
Pompeiian polluted waters followed her wake 
And they tried to lick poison sticky down her scales. 

Lacking the ashen breath of past suitors, 
She could feel him at the shelf by snow-covered beaches, 
And they tried to lick poison sticky down her scales 
But he sang the salt water silky over her burnt body. 

She could feel him at the shelf by snow-covered beaches 
And the memory of molten igneous shards grated her gills, 
But he sang the salt water silky over her burnt body 
Because smoothed lahar scars make the most beautiful blushes. 

And the memory of molten igneous shards grated her gills 
For the last time under the light of the red planet’s wink 
Because smoothed lahar scars make the most beautiful blushes, 
And between the ice floes, forms float and flow with ease. 

For the last time under the light of the red planet’s wink 
Two fishes shared stones between soft mouths; 
And between the ice floes, forms float and flow with ease, 
Bringing sedimentary men to new shores. 

Two fishes shared stones between soft mouths 
And swam north to kinder colder waters, 
Bringing sedimentary men to new shores 
When Pompeii poured into the Mediterranean. 

From my 2023 collection Honey Eaters.