Deluge

A drop
Then more
A thunderous roar
of rain
Water rushing swirling splashing
Gathering
Streams are rivers
Ponds are lakes
Hills
are islands

The earth shakes
Mountains crumble
Fire lights the sky

Running shouting splashing
Roars and howls
Fear and anger, man and beast
Pushing and rushing
Panting and stumbling

And still the rain falls undeterred

Water rising swelling breaking
Islands shrink
and turn to reefs

Climbing clinging flailing sinking
Water fills lungs of man and beast

And still the rain undeterred
Drones on unheard

~

The stalking king of the savanna
Terrifies no more
But feeds the vultures with his flesh

The tyrant lies embalmed in state
Dreaming of his massacres

All at last are overtaken
And lay their glory in the dust

~

Water cleanses purges
disinfects

Rain slows and stops
The trembling earth shudders and rests

The deep lies still
Glutted with prey
Mountains and cities
Buried in the gloom

Stars pass over the empty waste
Sun and moon take turns unseen
The sea triumphant
Guards her dead

No noise or song disturbs
the peace
No hill or tree disrupts
the line
of sea and sky
A perfect sphere
Death’s victory

But Lo a speck
on the horizon looms
Waves slap wood
Timber creaks
Solemnly it plows the field of blue
When suddenly,

A shutter clacks and from the dim within
A rustle then
A flash of wings