After the tsunami

Years ago, while sailing the coast of Venezuela with my parents, we spent some days anchored off an uninhabited island that was only desert terrain. The reason it was so, was that apparently a tsunami had hit the island hundreds of years before and tore all the lush vegetation away. The following poem is written about an experience I had early one morning when I took the dingy over by myself to the island to explore.

I wander out onto the desert at dawn,
Its vastness is alive with intense colours 
Yet to be flattened by sunlight.
Instead, the oranges, reds, and browns are
Rarified by the rivulets of dewdrops. 
A collage of animal footprints pattern the
Sand with stories of their nightly hunt.
And then there, over there, 

A final signature, a primal swish

Of an iguana's tail marks the beginning
In this marvelous morn.