On a calm, quiet day as I stand at the sill,
Watching as children run about at will
Suddenly I feel a shaking of the ground,
And I watch as people run all around.

I hurry to my mother as I say,
“We need to get out! Come, this way!”
I lead her to the street, and I hear people shout,
As chunks of fire fall all about.

I look at the mountain, Vesuvius, and see,
The mountain’s blown its top, it’s plain to me.
    With pumice falling from the sky, I say,
“We need to leave! The houses aren’t safe, come away!”

The neighbor’s house is leveled by another blast,
As its owners stand there aghast.
        I grab them by the arm,
And they stare at me in alarm

“My friends,” I bellow, and they stare,
                                    As ash is falling everywhere.
                                               “Run! Grab a pillow, cover your head,
                          Get out of the town or else you’ll be dead!”

As I dash across town,
I feel a shaking of the ground
                                      The boarding house collapses as the earth quakes,
And I shout, “Run! That’s isn’t no great shakes!”

I hold my mother tight as we run out through the gate,
Thinking we’ll be lucky if we escape
                                        The terrible volcano that’s claiming Pompeii,
But we must run, there’s no other way.

We run across the river, and we see
We’ve escaped the volcano, but suddenly,
Hot gases sweep over us, and I gag,
As a nearby man retches on a rag.

We dash into the river, and wait out the fumes,
As they sweep over the flower blooms.
That’s all I remember; that’s all I can say
As to what truly happened that day.