One Dawn Down Under Poem by Mike Shanahan

Awakening to the rays of sunlight
Stumbling from a Tent
On one deserted island Paradise
Disbelief on faces of friends gathered
Connected to the world by one small radio
Stunned silence from numbed minds
No comprehension of this nightmare Dawn
Listening to the banshee sounds of hell
Clutching mugs of coffee growing cold
Teardrops gushing Uncontrolled

Walking the beach
Sunshine streaming
Seagulls with yellowed eyes
Flecked red on white
I feel the Thunder far away

How to forget the dawn of Darkness?
How to feel a shared Humanity?
Borders, countries suddenly ceasing
In one day… receding
Like the Tide, sucking Galaxies of sand

Then firm resolve and anger coming
Welling like the waters, swollen
By the tears of a world at war
And as they spilled
This rush of adrenelyn through the veins
Heightening a total disbelief
There are no certainties anymore
They try to burn them
Yet as the Imprint deadly focussed
As the heartbeats calmed
Was birthed a mournful symphony of purpose
Candles lit in atomic waves
To purge this darkness from the soul
Of this frail planet.

In this light we pledged our troth
Bleeding hands held tightly clasped
To this end begin our drumming
To this purpose march our feet.