Parable Poem by Heidi Streuber

Hey, brother VULCANUS
Rein in your wild steeds.
The abdomen of the Earth gives birth to fire
MISERY
DESPAIR
Often before you have inflicted pain on man
But never as gruesome as today.

For miles
Dead soil, wasteland,
The spring leaves of the vine are burnt
Buried under the horror of glowing lava.

Only after a hundred years
The farmer will plant a new vine
Care for it gently
Hoping in vain to escape your arbitrary.

And he will drink the wine at his grandson's birth.