Revelation of Great Magnitude

The news broke:

there was an earthquake.

 

Your words ripped

along the fault line

and left me trembling in their wake

shaking uncontrollably

as silent tears and uncertainty

run down my dirty face.

 

My foundation is too weak

now brittle and cracked from stress--

too flawed to survive these aftershocks.

I built my life

upon nothing of substance--

lies and false assurances

            that you’d be there to see it all

            that you’d be healthy and youthful

                        (to see those grandkids

years and years from now) 

 

We never expected this.

I never even thought

that my life could be so easily uprooted

                        that I could be shaken to my very core

                                    by such pointless devastation.

 

There is no consoling me

            I’ve escaped the disaster without a scratch

                        but my innocence is lost

                                    along with the expectation of good.