00352 ◊ Vesuvius (In the Priests' Quarters) ◊ Jane Yeh

Vesuvius (In the Priests’ Quarters)

When it came, we were getting ready
For bed. The gowns lay on the mattresses,
White as palms open for a coin.

I always loved how they spread themselves,
Armless and headless, across the sheets,
Loved that perfect stillness of things

Dropped from a great height. They stretched
The length of the beds like so many
Paper dolls. That night

The sandals waited on the floor, soft
Brown mouths, open and dumb as those
Of oxen. I loved how the feet

Came down with a slap, the straps
An embrace. We were kneeling
When it hit. Through the window

I saw its hand and when the others ran
I stood, walked the row
Putting on each pair of sandals, pulling

One crackling cloth over my head after another.

—Jane Yeh
—found in Marabou (2005)