Tsunami - 4/29/08

Tsunami

Before the wave came
the sea pulled back
revealing a seldom seen terrain of bottles, flopping fish, an old shoe.
Many walked out to search for treasures,
they did not know the wave was coming.

They wrapped them in colorful cloths
like flowers from the Earth garden;
harvested and stacked like kindling
or laid out in rows.

They say no animals died, they knew the sea was coming.
Even the elephants stampeded to higher ground
saving the hapless humans on their backs
because they knew the wave was coming.

The wave is coming.
I can see how the sea bed slopes down and away,
down and away from here.
There is no higher ground.
There is no running away.
There is only the bed of sand spreading out and the water coming in.