spikes on graph paper
a biography of the earth's
distracted driving
masses merging with another:
hostile takeovers of stone; skyscrapers crumble,
choking apocalyptic dust in their wake
then tsunamis soar,
a fierce baptismal; my mountain home
spared the deluge though
inside, the family's china escaped
from its cabinet, only to be gravity's meal
and shatter in shards myriad
one serving dish survived,
flesh from the lamb filled it, steaming
only a fortnight ago
we'll buy new plates, ones
that will remain in silent stacks, until
another festive event
or until the seismograph records
another jagged jump, scribing one more tale
of earth's lamentable tensions released
California, 2020