Force of Nature

Act One, Scene One (Mount St. Helens)

The mountain rumbles and roars to life, earth's crust trembles.
A demonstration of power and strength,
she erupts, belches clouds of ash and gases into the air,
chokes life from all things, cloaks them in shades of dismal gray.
Imparts scenes that resemble a nuclear winter wonderland.
Mesmerizing, palpable silence,
exquisite beauty until the realization of havoc
wreaked upon the land, with vengeance, becomes apparent.
With excruciating patience and persistence,
nature begins to transform desolate landscape
into one capable of supporting flora and fauna.
Still a very barren landscape, not the moonscape of 1981,
more like, "the Mojave desert in August, without the shrubs."

Act One, Scene Two (Kilauea)

Kilauea, home to the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, Pele.
Legend says when the goddess is angry,
she roars to life, eruptions occur,
and Pele has been angry for many decades.
She spews red hot, molten rock, lava
from deep within the belly of the beast.
Pahoehoe crawls down the mountain side,
scorches, sears everything in its path.
Magma inches along toward the ocean,
a glowing mass, that heaves, struggles for breath,
leaves behind complete and utter destruction.
Exploding with fury when lava crawls into the ocean,
small droplets, cool in the air, form teardrop shapes, Pele's Tears;
Pele's Hair formed by thin brittle strands of volcanic glass,
cooled by the ocean waters.

Copyright © 2009 Sylvia All Rights Reserved

NOTES:
(Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, last eruption, May 18, 1980.)

(Kilauea in Hawaii is currently the most active volcano on the Earth spewing lava continuously since January 1983. In local belief the volcano is the home of the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, Pele.)