Twisting, tingling, spinning water
Rushing past to **** the old man's daughter

Glaring, entrancing, burning fire
Scorching the skin of priest o' sire

Twirling, whirling, spinning air
Leaving man's house behind with only a scare

Crushing, rumbling, shaking earthquake
That is how 782 families had to wake

The screams from the thunder storm
Were heard all throughout town
And that kind woman went to take her children inside
When a lightning strike came crashing down

I had always been so sure
That nothing like that could happen to me
Until one day while on a sandy beach
I saw a tsunami coming from the sea

My depression came in as a wave
and ended up a tsunami.

I was a storm
But you made me want to be a river
the way you kept trying
to hold me
as if I wasn't an ocean
that could slip through your fingers
as if I wasn't a tsunami
that crashed into you
every time you tried to swim
as if I wasn't washing you back to shore
in warning
before you dove back in
you had to keep your head above water
just to hug me
but hugging you back
meant you drowning in my arms
I was a storm
But you made me want to be a river

Anger. Anxiety. Depression. Fear.
Imagine these feelings
Are a natural disaster.
What would they be?
Would they be an earthquake?
Making it feel hard to stay upright?
Do they create rifts
that drive you apart from loved ones?
Are they a tsunami?
Building up until one day, they burst, drowning you?
Or are they a tornado?
Just destroying everything in its path?
If you can find a way to explain what it feels like
When you're angry, anxious, depressed, or afraid,
it can be a good start to managing it.

Monk Taio Kaneta

In everyday life
we sacrifice our need to feel
without even knowing it

you looked into my eyes which always seemed to remind you of the ocean. you said your dad never told you that you may drown while admiring the waves, your smile said not being able to breathe would be worth it. I thought about how you’re like the ocean breeze, giving breath to tired lungs. you swirl the sea, placing troubled minds at ease. you built sandcastles with your voice which I began to call home but it’s quiet now, all I can hear is a tsunami and I can’t seem to catch my breath

Seismic—
                      Shock wave of energy
                    swelling ocean waves,
                  Powerfully driven
                like a freight train
              rolling fast as a jet,
            Open ocean ninja stealthily
          racing toward landfall’s
        most evil betrayal,
      Rip-tide on steroids
    sweeping away
  unsuspecting souls
                                        — Tsunami




© 2020 by Mark Toney.  All rights reserved.

The Japanese word "tsunami" translates as "harbor wave" in English.