last night anna & i curled up on the couch
we were/are binge-watching the german thriller dark on netflix
when anna said, what's that noise?
the lights above our dining table were swaying clink clink clink
i had a direct line of sight to our backyard
the lights outside were too swaying
the time was about 8:10 PM or so
earthquake
we immediately turned to our phones
& changed the channel to CNN
i texted my other brother from another mother in life & art
who lives in southern california
did you feel the quake?
his house, he told me, felt like the deck of a ship in a storm
a powerful temblor, the 2nd in 2 days
several hundred miles separate
the epicenter of the quake
& my little postage stamp of earth
twitter was immediately alight
with information
including an automated bot that collated info
from the u.s. geological survey
[oh, the wonders of our techno age!]
but news was a bit slower for TV
nothing, i mean nothing, grabs you by the short curlies
than having the ground sway beneath your feet