Amid majestic peaks crouches a volcano,
snow-capped and long dormant.
Lava begins to percolate beneath her dome,
where her forces gather.
Jets of steam and ash disrupt the mountain stillness.
People flee in panic!
The earth rumbles and shakes. Safe behind barricades,
the observers draw breath.
Suddenly, eruption!
In an ebullient shout of heat, light and sound,
Her dome abruptly splits.
The clouds blush an angry red, reflecting her mood,
evocative of rage.
Lava tendrils embrace a lone ranger station.
Hot winds fan at the flames.
The walls collapse outward in stately agony,
and linoleum burns.
A lava bomb bursts nearby like a fallen star,
Ejecting glowing sparks.
Then, just as suddenly as it began, it ends.
Her fury ebbs away.
As the long years elapse,
the spring rains form a deep pool in her caldera.
Meandering, a stream
flows tender down the ruined slopes like a cool salve,
aloe for a wounded land .
An original poem by the author, originally published in Winsome Words. The Ontario Poetry Society. Thornhill, ON: Beret Days Press, 2006. http://www.theontariopoetrysociety.ca.
Rules for the poem's construction and other musing can be found in my daylog at September 18, 2006. Bolded words are the required elements of the poem. Pipe linking was added for publication here at everything2. The potential of pipe links to create an extra web of meaning in e2 poetry might reward further exploration. If you have a suggestion for a creative pipe link for a bolded word here, please let me know.