Seven Hours

In just seven hours,
    they lost everything.
“Little ants in the ocean.”

Everything drowning
    in the sound of the waves.
Nothing left. Only the
shattered pieces of what was.
What was,
    was,
        was
            and will never be again.
Toys turned to sea-floor stones.
Memories lost so far,
    marked into the earth.
The overwhelming debris
And the child’s rocking chair
that will never sway again.

Written after experiencing the losses from the Indian Ocean tsunami

Ana Munoz
Age 17
Westview High School
The Aftermath, Advanced Creative Writing