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Sophie Hartl Aug 2015
"The other one, the one they call [Sophie], is the one things happen to."

Slurring steps like words, not even drunk, yet
still seeing clearly the blurred letters you sent.

I let her cry, although I never understood
how the salty spate should heal a temporary break.

Blowing up small things to make them big is, what?
we were taught, more than being warned on how they will pop.

I can clearly see through the glass bones and paper
skin, sitting and tightening her ribs, enjoying the plague.

Spilling speech, strictly to rid myself
of your poisonous finger-tipped bones.

I let the break hurt more, swinging mischievously, pulling off the band-
aid slower to compose the tones for her to express.
Wonderfully inspired by Jorge Luis Borges (first stanza by him); "Borges and I" from "Labyrinths"
Darren Scanlon Jul 2015
(If Mother Earth could speak...)

I’m the first light of dawn setting fire to the skies,
the awe that ends with a soft, sated sigh.
I’m the slow, gentle sway of ancient, lofty trees,
branches of life filled with wonders to be.

I am sands and seas; a warm summer breeze
blowing soft, whispered tunes over ever-changing dunes.
I am stars in the heavens sailing high overhead,
the sun and the moon on their tireless threads.

I’m the love of life; the pulse your heart,
the strength of will in a lovers fine art.
I’m the beaming smile on the fearless face
of a victorious child at the end of a race.


“And what are they doing now...

Waves of hate
washing wasted fields,
decimating all
as they reap tainted yields.”


You’re the time and motion in an open frown,
a smirk beneath the paint of a terrified clown.
You’re the only solution to a worlds desperate cries,
swollen cheeks scarred by too many lies.

You’re a baby’s cry in a cold, stagnant pond;
all it could have been, had it lived much beyond
the cull of the clan or the whaler’s call,
so many lonely roads, at the back of every mall.

You are every grain of sand escaping clutching hands
of every grieving parent in war-torn lands,
carried aloft upon the jet-streams breath,
washed up on beaches that have seen too much death.


“And what are they doing now...

Can’t they see beyond
their selfish greed;
their lascivious needs?

Can’t they be stopped
before the frenzy grows
too fearsome to feed?”


I am the here and now since the dawning of time,
crying confusion at a wasted design.
The questioning gaze on so many tired faces,
a distant rumble felt beneath shallow graces.

I’m the giver of life, each equal to another,
taker of too many wasted sisters and brothers.
Another broken heart from a loss felt too soon,
a cold wretched cry from across a crowded room.

I am the heavens roar on a wild, stormy night,
torrential vengeance of a thunderhead’s might.
A raging wrath you don’t ever wish to wake,
I am nature’s grace that you choose to forsake.


“And what are they doing now...

Sending to the fields
of fruitless death,
their sacrificial sons
breathing borrowed breaths

Unleashing desolation
from way up high;
A tempest of hate-filled
and remorseless fires.”

I’m the molten rock spewing from natures wounds,
the ear-piercing shriek of her decimating winds.

I’m the Tsunami washing away the filth of your deeds,
the quaking earth to halt your murderous greed.

I’m the tornados teeth, tearing lives apart,
the landslide burying your empty hearts.

I’m the freezing avalanche covering all in its path,
the raging storm unleashing thunderous wrath.

I am the flood; the torrent; destroyer of all,
the deluge of death at the reapers call.


“And what are they doing now...

Beseeching the heavens
with open hands
in the wasted remnants
of once rich lands?”
                      


Written by Darren Scanlon, 31st December 2014
Revised 20th July 2015.
©2015 Darren Scanlon. All rights reserved.
Brian Ellingboe Jul 2015
Love will **** you
It'll bend you, break you, throw you around.
It's like a tsunami:
consuming, powerful, inescapable.
You and tsunamis are pretty similar.
When I saw you I felt you in the deepest parts of my being, smashing around and displacing my insides.
And when you left, you took away parts of me I can never retrieve. Like a wave returning to the sea, taking with it all in it's path.
You and tsunamis aten't that different after all.
Tsunamis cause damage by two mechanisms: the smashing force of a wall of water travelling at high speed, and the destructive power of a large volume of water draining off the land and carrying a large amount of debris with it, even with waves that do not appear to be large.
Courtney Jun 2015
before I met you I had flood gates in my mind and a lock stronger than iron but you know you've always been a tidal wave with a thrashing determination to get your way
now I've got tsunamis every few hours because every thought is a wave without control and my mind has an occupation of its own
Makenzie Marie Jun 2015
Your eyes are like the ocean
but the secret behind them
is that beneath the beauty that lures me in
it's darker than any abyss I've ever known.

Your eyes are like the ocean
but the secret behind them
is that the second you even dip a toe in,
chills consume everything.
But I dove in headfirst,
and I went numb so quickly
that I forgot that I was catching the worst kind of hypothermia.

Your eyes are like the ocean
but the secret behind them
is that the second I dove in
I got lost in them and forgot how to swim.

Your eyes are like the ocean
but the secret behind them
is that it's a tsunami wave
waiting
to wipe out the entire city
and every speck of light that inhabits it.

Your eyes are like the ocean
but the secret behind them
is that I have no idea
whether,
when I went swimming,
I sank or swam.
But either way
I'm pretty sure that when the storm hit,
I drowned.
SøułSurvivør Jun 2015
i


the
weak mountain
sent it's pale blue streaks
into the river
she accepted by
sneaking them
to their
final breath
in
the
sea


ii


fire
two years
of drought
tear
the source of rain
in twain
the water witches dance like
dervishs turn and toss
for the wine
on

your


table


iii


the fabrics
of the other side
slashed by
a single syllable of
lightning
the clouds cover
the

abashed

face

of

Venus



iiii


press
the world's
face to the glass
and all it sees
is a mirror
an enormous eye
staring
toward
God
his blue muscles ripple
the tsunami spoils
for a fight
the

golden

spires

engulfed in

wet

flame


soulsurvivor
(c) 6/4/2015
nature takes by force
what is not given

resistance is futile
all the works of man
are as bacterium to a
Tyrantesaurus Rex

---
Pablo Silva Apr 2015
Blazing hot sweats rolled down my back,
A cloudless sky was at reach from my palm’s view,
My eyes centered on the sun as it stood above my head.
Summer’s end sneaked around the corner,
But its endless heat
Fooled me to think it would never cease.

Milky sand grains covered my toes,
Beach ***** rolled back n’ forth,
Children’s castle were made and later destroyed,
Clear waters waved in my thoughts,
It was suppose to be a beautiful day
And until that moment, it was.

The moment the earth shook,
Loud voices suddenly began to rise
And footsteps tumbled the ground.
I looked around,
Right, left, up, down,
Where had the commotion come from?

The sun blinded me from the truth,
When the photons in my eyes reassembled the image,
A shock traveled to my heart
Making it pump furiously in my chest.

A desert ahead of me laid,
Content faces had ran from my presence,
The air dragged my body forward,
The ocean rapidly seemed to disappear,
I looked upon the never ending horizon
And its line had ascended greatly.

At that moment,
I refused to run like all the others,
I refused to avoid its magnificent moves.
The winds pushed me backwards with a tremendous force,
Sprinkles of icy water splashed against my skin,
A great calamity I was bound to face.

Shadows covered the surface of my dread,
An enormous wall of wetness surrounded me,
And with a blink, I was no longer visible to the eyes of men,
Even God could not spot me from the heavens above.

I gasped for air in the salty waters of the ocean
But there was none to be found,
And with that last thought in mind
I drowned myself in its eternal beauty.
T h r o w n ,   n o t   o n l y   l i t e r a l l y   b u t   b a c k   i n t o  
a n o t h e r   t i m e .
I   a m   a   y o u n g   m a n   o n c e   m o r e .  
A n   e y e   w i t n e s s   t o   a   m a n   m a d e   s h r i n e .
D e a t h   w e a l d s   i t s   s i c k l e   w i t h   u n e n d i n g   s c o r e .
A r m a g e d d o n .   T h e y   d i d   s t r i v e .
W i t h o u t   p r e j u d i c e   o r   r e m o r s e .
T h a t   A u g u s t   d a y   i n   4 5 .
T h a t   s e t   t h e   W o r l d   o n   o t h e r   C o u r s e .

L i t t l e   B o y   c a m e   t o   p l a y .
D e l i v e r e d   b y   E n o l a   G a y .

N o w   a n   o l d   a n d   f r a i l   b e i n g .
R e m i n d e d   o f   t h o s e   d a y s   a t   w a r .
N e v e r   i n   w i l d e s t   n i g h t m a r e s   s e e i n g
O r   t e r r o r i s e d   f l a s h b a c k   a t   o u r   d o o r .  
L e s s o n s   o f   w a r   w e   m u s t   d e r i v e .
T h r o u g h   w i l d e s t   d r e a m s   o r   r e f l e c t i o n .
C o u l d,   n o t   c o n s i d e r ,  o r   a t   t h i s   a r r i v e .
C o u l d   n e v e r   t h i n k   o f   t h i s   c o n n e c t i o n .
  
T h e   e n t i r e   f a t e   o f   a   n a t i o n .
C o n s u m e d   b y   M a n '? s   A n n i h i l a t i o n .

T h e   p a s t   g o n e ,   r e a l i t y   o n c e   a g a i n .  
U n t i m e l y   c o n n e c t i o n   o f   T e c t o n i c   p l a t e .
E a r t h q u a k e   a n d   T s u n a m i   r e i g n
D e v o u r   u s   w h i l s t   w e   l i v e   a n d   w a i t .  
H a b i t a t i o n ,   d e s t r u c t i o n ,   a b o m i n a t i o n   a l l  
a r o u n d .
T o r r e n t s   t r a n s p i r e   a t t a c k s   e x p r e s s   .  
C o n c e s s i o n s   o f   a   D e v i l s   p l a y g r o u n d .    
W i t h o u t   c o n s c i e n c e .   W i t h o u t   d i g r e s s

T o r n   a p a r t   i n   d e v a s t a t i o n .  
C o n s u m e d   b y   N a t u r e s   A n n i h i l a t i o n .

T h e   t o l l   e x t r e m e ,   t h e   c o s t   i m m e n s e .
C o n f u s i o n   e n - m a s s .
D i s i l l u s i o n m e n t   f r e q u e n t l y ,   s o   i n t e n s e .
W o n d e r i n g   i f   t h i s   w i l l   e v e r   p a s s .
W i l l   w e   e v e r   s e e   r e m i s s i o n .
M o m e n t s   c h a n g e d   d r a m a t i c a l l y .
A l l   f i l m e d   i n   g l o r i o u s   H i g h   D e f i n i t i o n .
A n d   s c r e e n e d   f o r   a l l   t h e   W o r l d   t o   s e e .
  
T h i s   P l a n e t .   T h i s   W o r l d .   T h i s   E a r t h   w e  
k n o w .  
S u r e l y   o u r   m o s t   f o r m i d a b l e   f o e .
19th March 2015
From the mind-set of someone who lived through the Atom Bomb and a second disaster, that of the Tsunami of 2011
Haidyn Mar 2015
Trying to not think about
being curled next to you,
is as hard as swimming
in a tsunami.
Like an ocean,
I have to wait for
my waves of emotion to calm.
But the tide won't come.
The swelling rocks boats in harbours
As the life-giver's anger builds
Though the skies are clear, the water roars
And starts to punish our homes
A lucky few scramble onto rooftops
But for most there is no time to act
Their bodies caught up in the raging ocean
As our protector becomes our downfall
The liquid flows, unstoppable and unforgiving
Plucking soul after soul from life
Babies cry as they are ripped from the arms of their mothers
Mothers cry as the light of their life is blotted out so easily
Husbands cry because they cannot save their love from death
Even the children realise that this is no game
They do not cry
They go silent and close their eyes
They wish the water away
But wishes are not enough
Lives are crushed in an instant of misfortune
Even the survivors have little prospects remaining
To rebuild seems impossible
When the foundations you build on are destroyed
But rebuild they did, to an extent
Over time the wounds cut so suddenly began to heal
But the trauma, the fear, the certainty of your own death
That will never fade.
At least 230,000 people died on the 26th December 2004, many more are still missing. The 2004 Boxing Day Tsunami was one of the most devastating natural disasters in human history. This poem will make no difference to that, but I would still like to dedicate it to all the people who lost their lives, family or livelihood in the disaster.
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