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To Pompeii

To Pompeii

Still One of the Best Things I've Written in 30 Years

Allison R. Shely's avatar
Allison R. Shely
Jun 27, 2025
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To Pompeii
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Dear Reader,

I celebrate my 30th birthday this weekend.

In the thirty years I have been on this earth, my 2018 poem “To Pompeii” is one of my favorite things I’ve written. Combining my love of Latin, classical history, and disaster narratives, this letter from a grumpy Roman senator at his vacation home at Baiae, across the Bay of Naples from Pompeii, wa…

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