A Little Seashell Poem by Liilia Talts Morrison

Beyond my seaside window far from blue Azores bays
The day begins with birdsong and morning’s sweet malaise
Suddenly winds grow stronger in rapid passages
Clouds ominously hiding unnerving messages

I feel compelled to rush out and run against the wind
Yet cries of seagulls warn me, “This is no time to sing
Or celebrate the power of nature’s unknown ways -
Some souls in scattered islands will breathe their last today.”

From my small spot of safety it’s hard to realize
Beyond those beach side windows a liquid death now lies
As at this very moment mudslides are swallowing
Frail homes and island people by drowning smothering

This tragic tale is broadcast by birds flung on sea gusts
A cawing and a wailing for villages turned dust
Though far from my small cottage I can’t ignore those cries
Of lands where tropic torment is taking many lives

I fall and kneel in sadness - it is a time to pray
For those engulfed by water as clay returns to clay
Whose devastated neighbors’ and children’s cries soon wane
Sucked into mighty wind shears of blinding hurricane

Though many had expected its unrelenting eye
Might pummel nearby beaches where my small dwelling lay
No bettor would have wagered on whether this wild horse
Would bolt and in an instant turn to a whole new course

As hours pass the maelstrom spreads terror far and wide
My prayers feel so useless against that raging tide
And then the palm trees whisper in wind whipped rustling sounds
“Can you find just one reason why you’re on higher ground? ”

This message now grows stronger snuffs out the fearful din
As I’m transported skyward and survey from within
A center still and untouched by whirlpools that surround
And for an instant fathom the need for burial mounds

Returning home those voices are quickly vanishing
The sky outside the window a promise offering:
Life’s puzzles were all answered in long forgotten dreams
That light on wings of sea-hawks in windy salt-strewn streams

Refreshed I cross the threshold and soon increase my pace
Now lying at the sea’s edge with sand upon my face
Thanking the mighty ocean for giving me this day
For like a sun bleached seashell I’ll soon be washed away.