When the earth danced wildly (poem) by J. K. Roseline on AuthorsDen

When the earth danced wildly
by J. K. Roseline → (All Poetry by J. K. Roseline)
Rated "G" by the Author.

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Tandava Nritya is a divine dance performed by the Lord Shiva. It is described as a vigorous dance that is believed to be the source of creation, preservation and assimilation. Nature and all its creatures are believed to be the effect of his eternal dance. An experience of an earthquake of six victor scale, its sound,its feel and its gyrating violent nature made me wonder of the great forces and its controlling elements. This is my my first hand experience of an earthquake of 6.7 hector scale

In hilly city of jabalpur In summer of ninety seven A calm morning unfurling Night stepped away enveloping darkness the air quiet ,welcoming dawn with silence Birds waiting to make its clarion tweets Calamity came flying and quickly harnessed What early morning risers witnessed Cannot be believed by eyes It was a Tandav at hand the homes got wild and danced They stood on shaky ground The land it started to moan and groan Thirty kilometres below and more A part dislocated its form Tossing the universe back and forth With all its strength , with all its might It shook , shivered ,howled and fell quiet For those in homes and still in bed The jolt big enough to wake them up The grinding of steel on ceilings heard A booming creaking sound , passed through ears all of a sudden there was halt Diagonal cracks in homes got marked long cracks on ground formed Patches of gaping earth Wide open like a wound Eight hundred odd villages shaken 8000 weak homes collapsed But casualties were few A hundred year old church got struck Believers felt its time was up But for kids there was excitement in all Of a return of the rock and roll In the form of an after shock It did no damage when it came For days children waited for the show kids had the story to tell this way it was vacation time one quiet day we slept outside in gardens below It was month of May in summer With days warmer nights cool out with the moon Under the sky, we felt safe,we sat For the sky wouldn’t fall if at all, we thought When the earth quivered and shivered and hissed With a magnitude more than six It shook us from beds we ran out of homes In our night pyjamas “ Scaring us out of wits" a day when an earthquake struck ! J K Roseline

Reviewed by DM Yates (Reader)

Reviewed on February 3, 2014

Very vivid. Loved it. Esp 'the earth was pregnant with silence.'

Reviewed by Robert Whitford

Reviewed on February 2, 2014

We are tiny compared to the earth, weak compared to the forces that wake periodically to render their voice. When the forces of earth roar that they are there, we are merely ragdolls in shaken. Good and interesting read J. Bob

Reviewed by Ronald Hull

What a wonderful way to come up with an explanation for an ancient Indian culture dance.

I have experienced a couple of earthquakes when I lived in California and found them to be a bit disturbing, but I wasn't really frightened. I arrived in California a week after the massive destruction of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in San Francisco. While I was on the phone a 4.0 aftershock occurred and I didn't even feel it, but a little dog in the house went crazy with fear.

Ron

Reviewed by E Phillips

When the earth shudders it is a good reminder of who is in charge
and who is not. A splendid write.

Reviewed by Jerry Bolton

Like Budd I have been in two quakes, but they were more like trembles than quake, but strong enough to knock mirrors and things off the walls. Scary. Would hate to have to go through a truly violent earthquake.

Reviewed by Budd Nelson

i have been in a few both in California and Greece, such a feeling as you have so well described
budd

Reviewed by Mr. Ed

We will never beat Mother Nature, no matter how hard we try. And I often think that Earth's Creatures are far more knowledgeable of what She will do next than we are.