"After the Storm"
The breeze is fresh, the waters clear
Green crisp fields waving through the air.
Radiant blue skies, melted by the sun
No care, no worries I and nature are one
These waters are sacred, full of life,
nourishes my body, quenching my thirst.
I dive into into its wide expenses, free and brave
Enjoying it's welcoming splendour
Rising with the light foam on its wave.
One day while roaming and enjoying its shores, I saw figures most startling,
ones that I never seen before.
Fierce giants racing down the river
that I could not outrun or out swim
wild, thick black smoke consuming and stifling my once clear wind.
Unfamiliar noises, loud and deafening,
intensifying, intensifying
hammering, pounding, sawing and grinding
no birds chirping , no trees rustling.
I continued wondering in amazement, further along the shore,
the shore had disappeared, no soft sand below my feet,
rough, rigid barriers I would now meet.
No birds chirping, no trees rustling
I see structures towering over the trees
caging the river as far as my eyes could see.
My waters no longer clear, no invitation for a swim
It milky brown colour, spotted with sometimes black or shinny film
My eyes filled with tears I race back to familiar sites
familiar sites are fleeting,
my world disappearing
I awake to loud noises, my beautiful views are gone
but I could still hear the river, not kissing but beating against the shore.
My shores no longer lined with seashells but chunky objects, also afloat
the waters no longer safe.... forced to retreat further inland
what destruction, what pollution all cause by the civilization of man
Man has changed the way of the river,
not admiring the value of its natural demeanor
but only its power to earn precious metals and facilitate great speeds.
Man has changed the way of the river for greed
Sometimes at night the river cries,
often with heavy grey skies.
A las one day the rains came,
enraging the river, the great river Thames.
The water raged, overwhelming the shores
Everything in its path battered and torn
Everything in its path battered and torn
All the bridges, ships and buildings broken and worn.
As the morning cleared, so was my view
I could see far across the river, sites that I once knew.
Everything made by man was gone
but there was still life, natural life, existing after the storm.
Janelle Berkley
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| Outer spiral bands of the storm |
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| Items caught and destroyed by the storm |
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| A snail caught in the storm ......but survived |
