Una foto y un poema - A photograph and a poem

Lalomanu Beach, October 2010



Our pain and our hearts have brought us back here,
to this idyllic beach, a superb place.
There’s a hint of chaos, some deathly trace:
countless shards of green broken glass appear


everywhere. Behind the road some remains
display the marks of the lethal sea-beast;
childhoods were stolen; lives suddenly ceased.
Sadly bent palm-trees heave a sigh of pain.


But further west, half-buried in the sand,
a strange white apparition has emerged.
Its presence many will not understand.


A year ago the machine was submerged:
a white-toothed monster rushed towards the land.
Lalomanu’s been since a mournful dirge.

 
Recordando a todas las personas que murieron el 29 de septiembre de 2009 en la playa de Lalomanu, y muy especialmente a Clea Salavert (6) y Alfie Cunliffe (2).


In memory of all those who perished on Lalomanu Beach on 29 September 2009, particularly Clea Salavert (6) and Alfie Cunliffe (2).

(c) Jorge Salavert, 2010.