EARTHQUAKE (Poem)

The snap and crackle of micro-earthquakes
Rippled back and forth the long-quiescent seismic gap,
Foretelling bigger things to come - exactly when not being known.
Creep continued deep on either side the quiet zone,
But micro-earthquakes in the gap did not release
Massive strain building along the stuck surface.
Nervously, people awaited larger quakes;
Signaling something grand and frightening to come. One day shaking
Began over magnitude five on the Richter Scale: was doomsday nigh?

It was a dour day, dark, sprinkled with rain.
Earth shook, without warning, violently back, forth,
Heaving with force of a great earthquake,
Cracking a fault break-length more than 200-miles long.
Automobiles tossed like mere tennis balls.

There was no escape, shaking was so awful.
Running down a staircase was hopeless;
Even staggering through a doorway - impossible.
Windows exploded; glass shooting everywhere.

With dreadful, deafening roar,
Buildings made by sweat and infinite patience
Were torn, sheared, trashed -
Leaving people crushed by fallen debris,
Others trapped in rubble. Blood spattered everywhere.
A child's shoe lay alone in desolation on the road.
One could only cower in terror, praying.

What seemed like a millennium of horror
Lasted but a few minutes when all returned to calm,
Except for the occasional crash as blocks continued to fall
From hulks of once proud buildings.
But all was not as before, as dazed survivors saw.
And all did not remain calm as aftershocks, some hard, rumbled through the area,
Returning a quickly-learned reflex of fear to hearts of inhabitants, Reminding them of the catastrophic power of nature.

(This poem was stimulated by the Mexico City Earthquake of September 19, 1985. From Wikipedia: The quakes were located off the Mexican Pacific coast, more than 350 kilometres (220 mi) away, but due to strength of the quake and the fact that Mexico City sits on an old lakebed, Mexico City suffered major damage. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Mexico_City_earthquake)