0

Poem: “That Tsunami”

That Tsunami

The wall of seas came rolling in
Deliberate, unstoppable
A massive wave of gray

This is how the dead come forth
From all their graves
On Judgment Day 

The weight of them, the mass of them
Rolling on and on
And who can hide

The vanity of living things
Illusion and the pettiness
Of lust and pride

Now darkness felt with fingers
Inside the skin
The socket of the eye

To find what lives inside
Each thought and wish,
To question and to pry

And those who wait to find release
In Earth’s damp lying-bed
Went free

But then the dead came rolling in
Like some gray sea,
That tsunami 

Pavel
March 13, 2011


Pavel Chichikov is a Washington DC-based poet and photographer. He has written for both the secular and the Catholic press on issues as diverse as Russian nuclear weapons systems, Olympic athletes, and miracles. His books include From Here to Babylon: Poems by Pavel Chichikov,  Lion Sun: Poems by Pavel Chichikov, Mysteries and Stations in the Manner of Ignatius, and Animal Kingdom. Pavel may be heard reading his works on catholicradiointernational.com and on pavelreads.com. His poetry regularly appears on "The Poetry of Pavel Chichikov."