Robert Okaji: “Vesuvius”

Vesuvius

When the earth shrugs,
some warnings are better
heeded. A little

smoke, some ash.
A knife point held to the chin.

Why listen at all?
The man in the big house hides in its vastness.
Surrounded, he walks alone.
People speak, but he hears only himself.

Meanwhile,
the mountain
belches

and the birds fly north
seeking firm ground
upon which to land.

 

Robert Okaji lives in Texas. The author of three chapbooks, his work has appeared or is forthcoming in Wildness, Vox Populi, Birch Gang Review, and elsewhere.

6 thoughts on “Robert Okaji: “Vesuvius”

  1. Pingback: My Poem “Vesuvius” is Up at The Big Windows Review | O at the Edges

  2. Pingback: Vesuvius | O at the Edges

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