A Great Leveler
Capt. S. Pullat
Erie, misty, placid
dawn trembled in tremor
sub-sea reveille afar
jolting boxing day slumber
Walkers on beaches
Ship-shape, havens,
boats hauling out to fish
sardine schools, gulls aloft
SHE pulled back in the main
luring folks to dash out
for pearls, oysters, lost and found
for greed knows no bounds
Alas, a false call and alarm
back She roared in fury
as storms follow the calm
for souls not so wary
She waved in back and forth
in cycles, length, depth and tides
cleansed beaches, ports and hamlets
of life, boats, crops and sins
Quays awash, mayhem afloat, pilots in distress
moorings snapped, ships banged, on wharves too
unaware they sailed in the deep
as hell broke loose in the docks
When it all subsided
from East Africa to East Indies
a lot lost, homeless and deprived
awoke others, help rained
Beware, She will be back
seawalls, mangroves or what
for tsunami is a great leveler
of what She makes and breaks
Tsunamian