On Lava.

• Author: Moscaliuc, Mihaela
• Position: POEM - Poem

On Lava Thera/Santorini, Greece Just as we resolve, as a herd, to signal we're parched and itchy, but remain too meek to let more than silence stress we've stored enough memory of Nea Kameni, the guide goads us to kneel and shove our hands into the heat-exhaling holes. The polite dip a quick finger; others snake palm-deep in half-inch increments. A gaggle of teens squat low, one by one, to mouth hot air for selfies; vertical again, they cave in, tweet and all. To regain some ground, the guide conjures Prometheus, Atlantis, the Minoan civilization swallowed by earthquakes and eruptions, urges imagine, imagine, you're in the heart of the caldera, scours the crowd for some kaomoji that recognizes just how spectacular this beauty, how lucky to be held within. I don't know what it means that I miss you here, in the stark extravagance on this ragged dome of...