St V and the City of P

1. 
In 79 AD
The sea asked the mountain
Who is older?


2. 
Domenico Fontana
The emperor
Orders you to cover the frescoes
And stop discovering new ones

I've already done it, melord
I did not want my children
To replay
The hedonistic illustrations
Of life in Rome


3.
When the ash settled
In Pompeii
Pliny's final letter
Sophocles's 120 plays
Art, gardens, the villas, the aqueducts
Slaves
Were missing

What remained was: vulgar graffiti 

4.
The ash, pumice and gas
Could not subdue
The largest erection belonging to
Priapus, the ancient god of sex and fertility

Today
His plastered penis
Is locked, forever
Due to prudishness
In the city's safety vault


5.
Whatever little we know
They are re-burying