Shaky Ground

(My niece’s kitchen after the Napa quake.)

Sometimes

(It doesn’t happen often

Thank God

Or your Lucky Stars)

The ground

Beneath you moves

With such sudden violence

It knocks you down

Upon your knees

And everything

Around you falls

Shatters in an instant

Your foundation cracked

The ideas you have hung

So carefully on your wall

In ruins on the floor

With the everyday plates,

Wine glasses,

And holiday platters

Stay on your knees

A moment

Look up

The sky shines still

And sparrows fly

Let’s follow them.