Across Naples from Vesuvius, Solfatara looms—
tempting tourists to walk its treacherous sides.
A young boy ignores the fence and ignites;
his father burns to death trying to save him.
His mother follows, drowns in quicksand.
Their seven-year-old son watches
from a distance. How will he forget
the moment when his family married fire?
He will always remember their screams and how
the air smelled as he watched them disappear—
the ferocious mouths of fantasy book dragons
finally real. The way fire is only itself.
It’s as if he were always an orphan—
their death fated for the bluest day of September.
Jennifer Franklin is the author of two full-length poetry collections, most recently No Small Gift (Four Way Books, 2018). Her poetry has been published or is forthcoming in American Poetry Review, Blackbird, Boston Review, New England Review, Gettysburg Review, Guernica, JAMA, The Nation, Paris Review, “poem-a-day” on poets.org, and Prairie Schooner. She teaches at the Hudson Valley Writers Center, where she runs the reading series and serves as Program Director. She lives in New York City.
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