Like thunder rumbling in the earth
The land quaked and shivered
Lying dormant for a time
Until the dam broke
And expelled the fire into the air
It’s raining outside
Rocks and ash all hurtling earthward
From a bright red sky
Standing from afar
This great blazing spectacle
Is almost a cause for wonder
– But my brothers are there!
Huddled in wooden huts at the mountain’s foot
With wives and young children
Always living in her shadow
Once I could call it shade
Protection – somewhat – from the heat of the day
Now – now it is the shadow of death
Blocking out the light
Strengthening amid the upheaval
Stars appear in the sky
And I am standing here
Watching in horror
Do you not see?
Do you not realise?
Is it too hard
Craning your neck up the mountain slope
To see the rolling fire at her summit?
Is the falling ash cloud not enough?
From afar, I tell you: Run!
You are not tied to this land,
You washed up on her shores
Hoping to dig for some precious metal
To build an existence round it
So intent on acquisition
That only now you lift your eyes
To see the flashing lights up above
But this is no fireworks display
The sparks in the sky
Are heat-seeking missiles
And they know who you are
Have you not gleaned enough from these shores of gold?
Did S’dom, city of gold
Saturated with the precious metal
More than you could ever use
– Did she not fall in fire and sulphur?
And when Lot made to assemble his possessions
Did the angels not drag him by the hand
Yanked from his home
Knowing there was no chance to linger?
Drop your pickaxe,
Take your children and go!
Already the ground is softening
It is becoming hard to run
Why do you languish in the shadow of the mountain?
Must you wait for the final straw
The flow of lava
To burst from the mountain and entrap you?
Then you will try to run
But the lava has a mind of its own
It will encircle you
The ground will dissolve beneath your feet
And all you own will disappear without trace.
Away, my brother! Tarry not!
Rise, flee to the cleft in the rock!
Away! Away!
