something I wrote a few years ago. delivered as ever from the ether onto the paper in front of me like a kind of ‘download’, although inspired no doubt in part by the fact that I had recently read about the prospect of a massive (3 kilometer high!) tsunami hitting the west coast of Portugal, if certain events might unfold through the folly and/or omissions of man combined with ‘natural forces’…
I just ‘rediscovered’ the text on may old ‘pc’ and thought I’d post it. it is one of those poems that, despite having written it myself and being so familiar with it, I still can’t read without feeling a huge internal ‘wave’ of grief:
the text in full in case it is easier to read:
tsunami (man’s final folly)
I stood on the ridge and looked out at the sea
And I saw the waves rushing to eat up the sand
A salty breeze almost made me feel I was free
But my daydream was stalled by a tug at my hand
I turned and looked down on the bright little face
Of the child that demanded unrivalled attention
Familiar smile, tousled hair and that horrible brace
An innocent mind that could not know my intention
I mustered a smile against all the odds
I returned the faint squeeze that she gave to my hand
Yet my internal discussion questioned the gods
When we felt a faint tremble shudder the land
For a moment the child looked a little forlorn
Like a kitten whose strayed too far up a tree
I felt a tear welling on this bright, windy morn
Then I thought I heard voices yelling at me
A second faint tremble, little more than the first
Made the blades of grass shiver as if from a chill
I picked the child up as we saw the bright burst
That painted us pallid and savaged my will
And then far away I could sense the seas rise
The third tremble was greater by far than the others
As I steadied myself, I saw fear in her eyes
And it struck me they looked so much like her Mother’s
Though still far away the wave was immense
Three kilometres high if the scientists were right
And the way it was caused just didn’t make sense
But it became clear that we’d not see the night
I held her so close that I heard her ribs crack
She squealed at the pain and she sensed my concern
And then the tears came, no point holding back
We both wept without let till it made our cheeks burn
As the mountain of water, still so far it looked small
Chased towards us and scattered the birds from the sky
The sun shone intently but we felt darkness fall
And the earth felt alive though we knew we must die
The wind now increased and came full in our face
My child whimpered quietly and held me so tight
I felt almost broken by the fearful embrace
And knowing there was no escape from this plight
A frenzy of sand now bedevilled the beach
As it whirled like a dervish and reached for our ridge
Every last hope seemed so far out of reach
And my skin felt like I’d just stepped from a fridge
I looked out once more at the watery wall
Rising faster and higher with each moment passing
I thought I heard wailing, or was it a call
From someone we knew in the crowd now amassing
My daughter looked deep in my eyes and she spoke
Her words bought me tears, in my throat was a lump
I choked as I realized that this was no joke
She simply said ‘Now, please Daddy jump!’
And I knew what she asked was what I had planned
With all hope far gone, we could feel the sea’s breath
So I launched us both off that vile cliff hand-in-hand
And we flew like two stones to that beach and our death
no audio this time, I’m afraid, as this is another poem that I don’t seem to be able to record without getting too ’emotional’.