we must all feel
the tremors of bombs
exploding
tearing lives apart
still unlived
the man-made quaking
of earth
the smothering weight
of dust, stone
and history
not unlike the
Richter-measured
magnitude of horror
unleashed
upon the sleeping
the dreaming
of another ancient town
we must all feel
the walls around us
crumbling
the floors beneath us
the ceiling above crashing
the air pushed from our
lungs
the unyielding bed of rock
blood and dust
no one clamors to claim
credit for this tectonic terror
whose scientific
explanation
lessens no pain
for this Act of God
(as if there could be one)
we must all gasp for
one more breath
on this fault line of
war and nature
to breathe in
the same choking air
of Aleppo and Amatrice
Barry DeCarli
August 26, 2016
On Hammond Pond
©Barry DeCarli
