Earth Tremors

Vietnam 2019: Caitlin Leishman

Rocks underground push to negotiate their place.

A burst of energy, 

a warning?

Or a pressured seismic stress, unwinding?

Feet ground down, feeling for stability.

Gut drops.  Waiting in limbo.

Will the subtle ripple,

like a swimmers hand piercing the water,

be followed by a vicious splashing, crashing?

The shock, a reminder of mortality,

that we are small.

The fear becomes weightlessness, releasing the lesser worries,

that always occupy the mind.  

Why, do we conduct our days,

believing we have, striving to have, so much control?

When everything we have, or have forgotten we have,

can be taken away.

Then…nothing.  

Doubt that it even happened, that you felt anything at all.

Save for the blood,

slowly flooding back.  

Relief.  

Luck.

A nudge from the earth’s core,

leaves an imprint,

on a clearer mind.

Pay attention.  

Be grateful.