After hitting land, everything washed clean
Envy, hate, hypocrisy, entitlement, illusion
Countless reserves and possessions in each house
Bursting at the seams
Cleansed and carried out
To a common destiny.
Swimming in the muddy channels
Pets and precious heirlooms floating out to sea.
Tsunamis are exceptional
A momentary mingling of
Aquatic life with our modernity.
Briny now and battered, all things accumulated
Piled up helter-skelter against
A wall that didn’t break
A monumental shrine to shared ignominy.
Ablutions made involuntary, prayers reactionary
A revocation of the many privileges we enjoyed
Took for granted as our due.
Unsullied fish are curious in
This unfamiliar habitat
Empty shirts and dresses, like ghosts circle round.
Computers dot the scene
Nothing now projected
On the dark, cancelled screens.
Cars and trucks are belly-up
Like whales washed upon the sand
Endless objects swirling
In a broiling, goulash stew.
The rip-tides pull the fishies back
To ordered, balanced space again
Where life is without burden
Where they can fully navigate
The depths with acumen.