quake

Magnitude 7.7 earthquake strikes in Caribbean between
Cuba and Jamaica on 2020 January 28, at 1410 hours


life was a pebble on the sand
a futile speck of dust toyed by the windless storm
the earth turned fluid in God’s hand
a leaf whose equilibrium could not reform

the random seismic arabesques
that stole the floor from underneath its pas de chat
the more i ran, flew i the less
the rocks in panic cowering from the tragic flaw

the grandeur of the grand cayman
blind suicide committed through the cracks that formed
along the shorelines of her span
cars rock-'n'-rollin' where slant buildings stood unarmed

jamaica caught the epicore
how hanoverian the fort charlotte onslaught!
no place on earth can be secure
for pride of man in calculus yields naught but naught

tsunami eyes vain vigil keep
lest turbid seas should vomit up their pent-up tears
too soon the world goes back to sleep
the quake has died: man rules once more in men's affairs…

© Copyright 2020 January 29
by Clyve A. Bowen♫