Hotel in a stranded coastal town.

Locals are trained in evacuation;

TV station's webcam is watching,

awaiting the volcano.

                      The volcano is overdue.

                      The tour guide does not mention this.

Alien terrain stretches to the horizon,

moss-cushioned lava, misshapen limbs,

battlefield of broken trolls. Deserts

of black sand laced by rivers of silt;

grey, glacial meltwater rushing to the sea.

Watch out for dodgy geysers.

Get your kicks

            on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

The Vikings: has history depicted

them unfairly? Discuss.

Sheep forage in unrewarding fields. Floods

wash away bridges, send postmen

the long way round, over the glacier.

In a wind-tortured land, a tiny church

huddles beneath a blanket of grass.

Behind it three gravestones,

guarded by a bunch of stunted trees.