Terrified Witness Poem by Willem VanVoorthuysen

When finally the cool, dark night had fallen,
there were no sounds of drum or bamboo flute,
nor of the restless, stealthy stirring
of prowling killers and their prey.

And I was just another one of them
that barely breathed, and waited,
in silent, anxious apprehension,
for fate to have its way.

But then, a distant rumble, getting closer,
a hissing fury, as the monsoon rain
hit smouldering mountain flanks
scorched by primeval fire!

A sudden gale ripped through the slumbering trees,
awakening their tortured, shrinking leaves
with myriads of icy rain drops, as lethal
as strafing bullets, and as merciless...

Then, finally all around me,
the blinding flashes, deafening thunder,
from clouds turned into raging torrents,
the awesome wedding feast of earth and sky!