Buzzards Swoop

Like two red-headed buzzards sitting on a fence, the volcanoes Acatenango and Fuego perch not far from Guatemala City and wait for a catastrophe. Twice earthquakes have destroyed the city; each time Acatenango and Fuego have picked it clean. The old capital of Antigua Guatemala has its skeletons of whitened ruins. Last week a series of earthquakes shook the country. Panes rattled, pictures fell, walls cracked. Guatemalans, remembering the destruction of their capital in 1918, fell on their knees and prayed. The shocks continued, grew more violent. The two volcanoes reared their heads. Fire, ashes, lava spouted from their mouths, peasants shivered at the sound of their abdominal rumblings. Ashes fell a foot deep on nearby villages, destroyed coffee crops for miles around. Guatemala City was under a cloud that spread from Mexico to Nicaragua. After two days the shocks stopped. The city still stood. The buzzards went back to their vigil.

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