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.

 

Author Bio:

David Russell was born in 1940. Resident in the UK. Writer of poetry, literary criticism, speculative fiction and romance. Main poetry collection Prickling Counterpoints (1998); poems published in online International Times. Main speculative works High Wired On (2002); Rock Bottom (2005). Translation of Spanish epic La Araucana, Amazon 2013. Romances: Self’s Blossom; Explorations; Further Explorations; Therapy Rapture; Darlene, An Ecstatic Rendezvous (all pub Extasy (Devine Destinies). Singer-songwriter/guitarist. Main CD albums Bacteria Shrapnel and Kaleidoscope Concentrate. Many tracks on You Tube.



This poem is part of the complete collection; Speculum: Collected Poetry and Prose, by David Russell.

View or Download the complete collection here in PDF format.

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