Rabaul Harbor
by Michael Romani

Mankind has fought war after war
It seems like we will forevermore
Without a second thought of consequence
Of how nature bears this in reluctance
Absorbing all the we do to her
One horrible aftermath of this disaster

Like the hulls and wrecks submerged
In Papua, New Guinea's sheltered bay
Sunk as World War Two raged and surged
Wounded ships sinking, resting as they lay
Who knew that the gods of wrath could laugh
But they must as turn wreckage into photographs

A downed Mitsubishi biplane now quite sedate
Becomes a sunset daydream's need to create
The surrounding harbor with its unusual topography
Opens itself like a maiden waiting for photography
Birthed from a violent, volcano's harsh eruption
It's seeming peacefulness is more just an assumption

Life on the rocky edge can be so fragile
Taken in best by those who can live agile
Like the boy on his bike unafraid to crash
As he races down a road covered in volcanic ash
Climbing the volcano is no walk in the park
As the sulphur and dust make it seem dark

But the crater's edge offers its stunning view
That makes a man do just what a man can do
Just to see the steam rise up in supple beauty
Escaping from fissures in a sense of majesty
It's a living landscape changing before the eye
A one of the kind moment of do or possibly die

The cone of the volcano is a world all its own
One that the wise advise quite well to leave alone
It goes a long way toward showing the planet's mercy
So completely hard to convey with any accuracy
A week later, in a sudden moment's explosion
All of it is gone, every bit, in an instant's erosion

(c) August 13, 2017  Michael Romani
All Rights Reserve