The Last Wave
Near the beach
at a hotel in Wellawatte,
my friend from Indonesia
my daughter and I
admired the sea
the sand, a ship
Suddenly a line across the water
Then
all at once
the line rose:
it was as if the whole sea got up!!
Water rushed
over the railway track
on to the road
toward the hotel
The ship turned
round
and
round
People ran
Beach restaurants and houses
Everything was destroyed
Then suddenly
the water drew back into the sea with such force
it took anything
and
everything with it!
In seconds
everything was dragged into the sea
The wave receding
the beach and reef
lay bare
It was awful
In Galle and Matara it has been terrible
The whole country is in mourning
Yesterday we gave clothes,
sheets, cups, milk, food
to volunteers going south
to help the dispossessed
