The earth is still.
A dog barks, a child cries,
An upturned kayak floats gently down the river.
Then the wave hits; a brick wall of
pent-up rage, crashing, splashing, smashing
over the land.
Houses crumple and parents scream
as it writhes: rising up like a rearing
gryphon, dropping down like a Sati into
the pyre.
The sky is broiling, boiling, screaming, pelting
missiles at the wave, roaring insults that
are lost in the thrashings of the earth.
The wave pounds on towards a village, spitting corpses
aside as it goes; a geriatric who couldn't run
fast enough; a white-faced mother clutching a baby; a
suicide with the pills still clutched
in his fist. It blasts through windows, licking the tears of
terror from the face of a crying girl before casting her aside
into oblivion. It roars, screeches,
screams...
Then the earth is still.
A dog barks, a child cries,
An upturned kayak floats slowly down the river.
