A Body at Rest
Mar 16 2011


The aftershock is never as strong.
Buildings sway, dishes rattle
time stops
again.
Except by now, your nerves are shot
which makes it seem worse,
the helpless held-breath waiting.

For the second time in your life
the earth moved.
Not just him, and you
but all you ever knew
forever uncertain.
Down to bedrock
you were counting on.

But what you forgot
is that the earth is always in motion,
the sun hurtling through heaven
the galaxy circling
the universe
bursting its bonds.
So it’s the sudden stop
that’s fatal,
everyone
flung off the green-and-blue planet
into the cold dark vacuum
of outer space.
A body in constant motion,
a body at rest.

The earth rose, the oceans dropped
and gravity changed
infinitesimally,
feeling the heaviness.
And now, on edge for the next aftershock
wondering
if that was The Big One.
And if not
when?