Tsunami

I.
five days in a rough salt sea;
they are beautiful dolls
smooth as beach glass and cool to the touch
hands and feet rubbed into seamless cloth
washed clean of all features
all orifices vanished
no mouth to speak or gnash its teeth
peaceful without ears to hear the screaming gulls
there's been a terrible disaster,
but they haven't heard the news

II.
on the open water
the bodies sometimes meet each other
bumping together one asks another
for this dance
but she bobs away shyly and he
cannot take her hand

III.
there is no violence left to the water
just a child sleeping after a tantrum run its course
4,000 missing, 5,000,
they play a kind of hide and seek
they've forgotten to stop the count

IV.
no violence, the ocean is not angry
just hungry, blameless,
like the little fish nibbling
a serene picnic
they give of their flesh willingly

V.
Shh. they are sleeping
rocking gently in quiet blue-green swells
they are resting for a long journey
who will be the first to go all the way around?

VI.
imagine, bodies floating for days
a short reverie, not more
the truth: they cannot escape the noise
from shore the smooth silence is broken
by news reports, habit, it never existed
they absorb our chatter
and sink like lead
and sink with the weight of the world.