Tsunami Lament

The shores around Pacific's rim
Are guarded by the might
Of men and buoys and radios
That watch by day and night.

The Indian Ocean's balmy shores
Could have been protected too
But the will to act was missing
The killer waves too few.

We cannot spare the money
Was India's refrain
And echoed by the countries
Who could not see the gain.

What price upon a single life?
What worth a hundred more?
How much to save a thousand bodies
Floating by the shore?

The stable door is open,
The horse of death is free.
It rode upon the killer waves
That they could not forsee.

So now they talk of forging
A new bolt for the door -
The early warning system
They could have had before.