A Moment Ago...

My house, it was here a moment ago.

I swear it was here, over here

By the trees that are no longer there

Standing strong in the crystal spring air

And the unnatural breeze from the shore

I am sure that’s where it was before.

Have you seen it? I swear it was here,  

A moment ago....

My friends, they were here a moment ago,

They were here , not that far

As their laughs quelled the quiet

Like a innocuous riot,

Then, running fast up the tracks to the hills where we go

When we want to escape from the bustle below.

Have you seen them? I swear they were here,

A moment ago....

My mother, she was here a moment ago,

She was here, at the table

Drinking tea, talking folly about times long gone by,

Complaining to god of the thickening sky,

Demanding more tea and a sympathy ear,

I love you dear mother but why aren’t you here?

Will someone please help me?  I swear she was here,

A moment ago....

My son , he was here a moment ago,

Over there, he was playing with cars,

By the house of a friend,

Over there round the bend

Off the road that is no longer there... but he wouldn’t go far.

He’s a good boy you see, an angel, my star...

Have you seen him?  I swear he was here,

A moment ago....

My love, she was here a moment ago,

I swear she was here, standing here,

Next to me with the wind in her hair

But her eyes flashed a look of despair,

I remember her cries but why? I must know.

She is somewhere up high, surely not down below

Have you seen her?  I swear she was here,

A moment ago....

But the sea wasn’t here, a moment ago.

It was quiet and calm, with no cause for alarm

In the gentle spring rain with no sadness, no pain,

In our village that rests by the shore, I adore

And my home with the little white door.

But the sea did not care, as it rose in the air
Its torrent, it came all the same....

Unstoppable. 

Indiscriminate.  

Chaos.

Where are you my friends?

Where are you my mother?

Where are you my son?

Where are you my lover?

Why have you left me here on my own

Swamped by the shattered remains of our home?

Why can I not find you?

Where did you all go?

Were you not in my arms

A moment ago?

Now I stand here alone with my face to the floor,

And I long to be free of the thoughts I endure,

As I look up and scan the destruction and death,

I fall to my knees and beat at my chest,

I feel the despair welling up in my heart,

I wish nothing more than this pain to depart.

I look at the waters as they filter away,

And carry the souls of those lost on this day.

Though my body remains, my soul joins the flow

For my world was extinguished

...but a moment ago.

Copyright © 2011 by Simon Austin