It took so long

But finally it came in rage,

The looks of it frighteningly deranged

Tried they might but it could not be balked

Nor could anyone stand-up and face the challenge.

A comfort though for the detractors

That those who inauspiciously foresaw and warned its eminence

Had long gone, not to be found,

Nor to be traced.

So much was its rage

It spewed fire, disgorged violence

Not a single element

No matter how it was made

Let alone the flesh

Melted away like wax leaving no ashes.

So intense was the heat,

If one dares to stare,

From afar,

The retina began to tear.

So intense was the fire,

Even the deepest floor of the Earth,

That serves as a natural brazier,

Began to quiver,

And formidable nature made castles began to shatter,

and got dissolved into the ocean water.

This liquid fire that flowed like a river,

Though, unlike a river,

It followed no old route,

Where men have settle around,

And just like trees, right and left of the bank,

They have established their roots.

Came this roller coaster fire,

Facing it, anything that stood,

Be it a concrete steel or a block of wood -

Anyone caught, rich or poor,

Living in a castle or a hovel,

Rover or men of riches and power-

They all knuckled under its terror

As all became combustible

Alas! There shall be no place to hide,

No muscle to flex,

Nor there shall be weapons left,

No matter how complex,

There shall be no diamond spared,

To help the rich still stay empowered.

It is time to repay

For the scandalous ravaging acts men did play,

Tampering with nature as if it is a toy.

The trouble, the retribution was so fierce

It knew no distinction,

Between the culprits and the innocent.

They all were dealt with

The same breathe,

As the dinosaurs were once.

It may be of some comfort to know,

That after a brief lull,

Things might change,

In some shape or form, something may emerge,

And take over the planet.

For this is a nightmarish chapter,

In a long series of events,

That had to come to an end.

Copyright Haileselassie Girmay

21/9/99

From: Haileselassie Girmay <sage01@GLOBALNET.CO.UK>

To: P>Date: Monday, September 20, 1999 11:16

Subject: Burning Planet!

==================

This poem was written A day before the Turkish earthquake took place but

I decided not to put it on the net. It looked bad taste, then yesterday I

Put

It on the web at about midnight 11.10 PM and hit the screen (see above)

And before the Taiwan earth quake happened.