The Sirens of Pompeii

Was it karma
catching fire?,
or a show
of beating flesh?

A white cat
on its tenth life
darts from the alley
while I smoke
thinking
Maybe this is what
good luck looks like--
a drawer full of anagrams
palindromes
what have you.

And I will help you hang
your pictures
since you've helped me
rip some down.
Only Christ could dangle
mercifully.
The rest all longed for blood.