Poem – Earthquake (By David Russell)

Earthquake

What happened? There was a fault.

What’s a fault?

It’s when one piece of the earth juts above another.

Why does that happen?

Because the explosion down below

Goes on forever.

 

But was that fault anybody’s?

It was the earth’s; it’s beyond us.

The seething energy-city, ever greedy to accelerate.

Did its makers long to sharpen that fault,

Draw on the lava

 

To blow themselves: were they all human lemmings?

Yawning blueprints for giddy layers of highway;

Did they suck in any poison? Abrasive ardour,

Overstepped incisions,

Thin flanges slicing.

 

[su_david_russell_speculum]