OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS
Although there was no Noah
Or Gilgamesh around,
No blast like Krakatoa
To deafen with its sound,
The Ocean of the Indies
Awakened from its sleep
When scarp off Indonesia
Collapsed in Sunda Deep.
The nine-o quake by Richter
With cataclysmic force
Unleashed a silent killer
Unnoticed at its source.
A bump upon the surface,
A mighty pulse beneath,
Propelled with fateful purpose
To shores within its reach.
Vast energy untotaled
It sought to dissipate
With wave whose scale was global
That sped near sonic rate.
The nearest coasts were leveled
Like castles made of sand.
Entire towns disheveled,
Lagoons replacing land.
Came early Sunday morning
With few around to greet
The ocean’s only warning —
A vanishing retreat.
Who understood the meaning
Immediately ran,
For knew would come careening
Resurgent waves again.
Remainder stared in wonder
At last they’d ever eye —
The roaring waves that thundered
Some dozen meters high.
Whoever slept in quiet,
Unknowing in their rooms,
Awoke to nightmare riot
From ocean’s sudden doom.
Those who escaped from drowning
Were crushed by the debris
Churned by the ocean pounding
Each building, car and tree.
A few survived by clinging
To anything they could,
Some respite sea was bringing
Nearby, like piece of wood.
But those who were unconscious
Or not within the grasp
Of some life-saving flotsam
Were dragged by sea’s collapse.
The surge and drain repeated
Till energy was spent
And waves at last receded
With oscillations’ end.
But former land had vanished
And surf massaged new shores.
The works of man were vanquished —
Communities no more.
Earth’s population dwindled
Where Neptune’s hand had touched.
For Fates had quickly spindled
One hundred thousand plus.
Though nothing more than physics —
Drop pebble in a pail.
But ripples turn tsunamic
On planetary scale.
Earth spins minutely faster —
Ten-thousandth second less —
Because of this disaster
Where surface was compressed.
Still doubt we Velikovsky’s
Belief that cosmic blasts
Explain the Bible stories
Of earth’s convulsive past.
If wreaks this much destruction
One mere abyssal plunge,
A meteor imagine
Could everything expunge?
(Published On-Line at GOD AND THE SHELTERED POET, by Melanie M. Eyth,
January 7, 2009 [http://godandtheshelteredpoet.blogspot.com])
Author Bio:
I am a Professional Engineer who has been writing poetry since 1990. I am an incorrigible rhymer, tending toward the skeptical/cynical regarding daily life. I have been fortunate to have been published in poetry magazines and on-line journals such as NUTHOUSE, MOTHER EARTH INTERNATIONAL, FEELINGS/POETS’ PAPER, MÖBIUS (when Jean Hull Herman published), PABLO LENNIS, MUSE OF FIRE, SO YOUNG!, THE AARDVARK ADVENTURER, POETIC LICENSE, THUMBPRINTS, UNLIKELY STORIES, BIBLIOPHILOS, FULLOSIA PRESS, NOMAD’S CHOIR, HIDDEN OAK, PABLO LENNIS, POETSESPRESSO, SOUL FOUNTAIN, WRITER’S JOURNAL, ATLANTIC PACIFIC PRESS, DERONDA REVIEW, LYRIC, THE STORYTELLER, WRITE ON! and DANA LITERARY SOCIETY.