To the Artist's Page                    To our home page

To Melvin Sandberg's previous piece     To Melvin Sandberg's next piece

The Tsunami

A submarine earthquake struck near the Aleutians
And wrought a tsunami of tremendous power,
Flooding the country at Scotch Cape Alaska,
It destroyed a lighthouse and radio tower
Thirty-three meters above the sea level,
Reaching its greatest height close to its source,
Traveling six hundred miles an hour,
Destroying all vessels it met on its course.

Paradise Island lay helpless before it,
Which made the prime minister broadcast a plea
For help to evacuate all of the natives
Before they were drowned by the turbulent sea.
No phones or radios were on the island
To give them a warning a fifty foot wave
Would submerge the island in less than five hours,
Condemning them all to a watery grave.

Wolfgang Von Dietrich stepped aboard the Concord
And faster than sound streaked across the blue sky.
He parachuted down to the doomed island
And advised the chief that his people must try
To sail to a higher and much safer haven
Or when the wave came they all surely would die.

All but the frail elderly got in the dugouts
And sailed for Palova fifteen miles away;
Reaching the island they climbed to the top
Of the highest hill there and they knelt down to pray.
The tsunami crashed into Paradise Island,
A fifty foot wave inundated the land.
The chief and the natives who stayed all were drowned
As their huts were deluged by King Neptune's command.

The tidal wave surged to the isle of Palova;
The people clung to the tall palm trees in fright,
But the tsunami just licked at the summit
As God showed his mercy that terrible night.

A young girl was wrenched from her tree by the water;
Von Dietrich reached out catching her as she fell,
And pulled her to safety, the chief's only daughter,
Who lived to be queen and this narrative tell.
The water subsided, the crisis was over,
A bright golden sun ushered in a new morn;
How soft was the wail that was heard in the dawning--
Safe under a palm tree a baby was born.

To the top of this page