EARTHQUAKE

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EARTHQUAKE

columns lean like drunks apse and knave ass over tea kettle columns caught in mid flight by a saint an angel a savior a virgin in crypts below skeletons repose in a dust whose age is an impenetrable thought dirt made by a trembling earth grinding mortar and brick and frescoe here there are words that weigh the worries of the earthquake temblor and you're not to worry go under a desk or neath a lintel until it passes it happens all the time here where sometimes all that remains are facades where stone Franciscans keep watch over pigeons while inside arches are now etched against the bluest skies whereas the word terremoto the very word itself may cause you to stand startled at it's very sound raises a siren within while the tremble of a table the rattle of a cup the shivering water within a glass are quiet and terrible announcements by an earth who has held still with this centuries old deep red tension one which it can no longer maintain as if you held a wild hawk by its talons the whooshwhooshwhoosh sound of its wings over and over until your grip gave way and ahhh.

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Photos

CATHEDRAL OPEN TO THE SKY
Once grand now ruins

WALL AND FRAME
Plaster falling

ARCHES AND COLUMNS
Earthquake's power

EYE TO THE HEAVENS
Roof collapse centuries ago