Forces of Nature

By: Nitin H. Shyamkumar

Tsunamis

The languid water gently lapped,

At the silver sands on the shore.

The azure sky, the yellow sun,

Never gave a hint of what was next.

The wave burst forth,

As big as a mountain.

The ocean lashed,

Like a slave driver.

And the people screamed in terror.

The wave swallowed,

When it fell,

On the people, on the shore

Earthquakes

The horses merrily trotted,

Along the cobblestones,

The drivers gaily cracked their whips,

In the cool crisp air.

Earth growled from within,

A warning, a hint,

Of what’s next.

A crack opened wide,

Throwing cobblestones into the air,

As people ran,

And struggled with despair.

They knew the Earth would prevail,

As it consumed,

The people,

On the road.

The crack closed,

The buildings fell,

The walls and roofs,

Caved in.

The lamps toppled over,

The sparks flew to meet the buildings.

The city, the buildings,

Was

One

Large

Blazing

Inferno

Hurricanes

Christmas Eve came,

And all was quiet

Except for the stirring and thrashing

In the wide, open sea.

It moved forward,

Its destination,

Never changed.

The winds howled,

The cats shrieked,

The hurricane was near.

A family inside tried to ignore it,

And to eat their Christmas dinner,

But they all knew, that in the end

The hurricane would be the winner.

The family trembled,

The lights went out,

The roof;

Blown off.

The people ran,

The people screamed,

The hurricane was here

Forces of Nature are bad,

They can really make us sad,

We may whine and grumble,

But can we ever change them?