Earthquake Rising
April 18, 2014Shaken from my bed, I arise to see a blood orange moon stuck between two steel arms of electricity’s skeleton. Ducks in rippling water chatter nervously, as if looking…
Shaken from my bed,
I arise to see a blood orange moon
stuck between two steel arms
of electricity’s skeleton.
Ducks in rippling water
chatter nervously, as if
looking for the one
who stirred their pool.
China cups in place,
I wonder if someone
from the other side
of the world might be
digging through brown earth.
Perhaps, a Tibetan
longing to be free.
Or did that moon thrash
in anger to free herself
from the cold tentacles of
unforgiving steel?
Feeling the cool spring chill,
I remember
it is April 18th ––
birthday of my long-dead father ––
a lover of the moon.
-Joyce Brinkman (Marion County)
first published by Connotation Press: An Online Artifact, Vol. V, Issue VII, March 2014
Joyce Brinkman’s poem “Earthquake Rising,” first published online by Connotation Press, erupted from a small tremor in her hometown of Indianapolis. Her multilingual, international collaboration “Seasons of Sharing” will be available from Leap Frog Press this fall.
Indiana Humanities is celebrating National Poetry Month by sharing a poem from an Indiana poet every day in April (hand-selected by Indiana Poet Laureate George Kalamaras). Check in daily to see who is featured next!
