"in its wake..."

I saw a film once...
a woman was
walking
quietly along a
sunny beach

children were building
sandcastles,
sun-bathers were
sleeping,
a man was reading the
New York Times
and drinking
ice tea...it was not quiet,
but it was
what you would
expect at the
beach

all of sudden
lifeguards stood and pointed,
whistles blew,
mothers screamed for their
sun-kissed
children,
people ran...

a wall of water was moving
towards the beach

a wall of water,
taller than a building

screaming,
panic,
cacophony,
running...

then it rolled
over the beach,
over the people,
over the woman
who'd been
walking on the
sand

a tsunami

the screaming stopped
the running stopped

under the water
people smiled at
one another as they
tumbled noiselessly
their voices were not heard
there was nothing
coming,
there was nothing to run from,
there was nothing to resist...

it was there...

it was all around them,
carrying them,
moving them,
buoying them,
silencing them

there was nothing to do
but surrender to the
surge and lift
of the sea
as it
returned them to
the sand and
rolled back
into
its
infinite
basin

surprised they
stand
surveying
their surroundings
they begin to
search for
what was
once
certain and
familiar
before
making their way
towards
home

sometimes
this is how God's
presence
feels to
me

like a tsunami of
irresistible
unfathomable
unavoidable
Love...

and sometimes,
in its wake
all my
perfect
planning 
is
gone...