Richter

North Yorkshire has recently experienced a tremor measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale......

EARTHQUAKE


Did the earth move for you
at three minutes-past nine ?

Or were you light-headed
from too much red wine ?

Our first real quake
of twenty-eleven

in a snowy slice
of Yorkshire heaven;

many were thinking
of returning to work

and forcing a smile
for the management jerk

when he asks if this
is a happy New Year

- the public laughter,
and the private tear.

It felt like a fast train
speeding through a station

or a sexy climax
to years of frustration,

some went on watching
the murders on TV

as if that was more real
than the shaking of a tree

in their own back garden
of fracturing ice

or the car with its
trembling fluffy dice.

Before the tremor
our dog went quiet

and the pet canary
caused a riot

as the cat knocked
over the Christmas tree

and mother spilled
her mug of tea;

six kilometres down
the fault was grating

while upstairs Jonny
was masturbating,

the seismograph
was madly writing

as the room blinked
- flickering lighting.

Now thinking of those
who died elsewhere

or sleep on the streets
with dust in their hair

some quakes are higher
on the Richter scale,

even aftershocks
turn a grown man pale