Anne Marie Wells
Not Meant for Catacombs
“The cemetery of Camogli is one of the most popular in the area because of its location on the touristy Italian Riviera, in a historic harbour town.” (EuroNews, Feb. 23, 2021)
An Italian,
cliffside cemetery
collapsed in a landslide,
releasing two hundred
coffins into the brackish
abyss below. Le famiglie
of the deceased grieved
the skeletons lost at sea,
mourned the ossified minerals
wrapped in silk suits and lace
dresses, that once gave form
to loved ones’ flesh, unaware
the fall was a graveyard plot.
All along the weight of two hundred
spirits yearned to taste the salt on their teeth
until their teeth were no more. Their laments
went unheard by the carnate, but convinced the dirt
they weren’t meant for catacombs, and, wanting to be
fated like i capitani, crumbled the cobbles, spilled their dust
and bone into a Ligurian tomb and sank with their ship. But
if one with a keen ear tried, one might have uncovered a wisp
of air quavering after the rumble. Let us dance in the water. Let
the kelp tickle our toes. Let our children and their children and theirs
search for our jaws and joints, softened by time and sand, like shells along the shore.
Anne Marie Wells (She | They) is a queer poet, playwright, and storyteller navigating the world with a chronic illness. She is a faculty member of the Community Literature Initiative with the Sims Library of Poetry.
