A Pillar Of Salt

She will stay there forever, they say.
The column is woman-height
Surprisingly un-eroded
By centuries of rain.

I can imagine
A dark night, hurrying up a path
Frightened,
While fire rains around you
And you turn back

To glimpse just one last time
Your house, your family,
Everything you know
Being destroyed-

And for your efforts
Being turned into an unconscious pillar
Of bitter tears.

The salt is warm.
I shudder away-
Would I have looked back
Had I been in her place?