poem: The Geology of Human Fault

for Trayvon, maybe

For geology, I understand anger:

that slow subduction, swallowing

 simmering in a pit of resentment under

the surfaces of normalcy

  a time bomb waiting

for its trigger, a pressure cooker

under threat of internal rupture

Like so many,

 the little Cocos here

is trying to disappear, feed itself

entirely underneath the Caribbean

 and North American.

 

A self is never subdued completely

to another

without consequence.

Just ask any subjugated thing-

  a wife, population, race,

 deferred dream and

resource misappropriated,

     or continental plate;

  and it will tell you stories

 of inevitable fault lines

of not-quite-stray bullets

   and strike slip boundaries,

places where intensity builds

    and lets off small or great sparks,

unleashing energy. It will tell

  you maybe about the suffocation

of being held down under water

    or set on fire.

It is cognizant of the potential

   and the massive power

needed to evoke the kinetic.

and it will delineate the story of magma,

fluid and rolling, the internal convection,

 the insistent conveyor belt

    that can move continents,

  crash them into each other

     uplift mountains and tear

   down structures.

This may not be my fight

 but it is everyone's fight

   and I can appreciate the fact

  that motion is hard to stop

once it commences and there

   are continents' worth

of power structures

  to rearrange.

it is time for a second Lemuria

   to create itself,

  one simmering caldera

       at a time. Examine the

volcanoes at the edge

 of the Cocos:

  it is as good a starting point as any.

 

 

 

Reviews

[Horizon K.]

Gorgeous, such a brilliant use of metaphor and as always your voice is clear and striking to the soul... and this message, so relevant to things I have been thinking much on these days-- subjugation in its many forms... colonization, suppression, silencing... causing us to collapse inside until we explode, shift along fault lines to become something unrecognized... how does one, finally change thier world, finally become strong...

[Marie Anzalone]

I wonder if we do not become strong by recognizing our own vulnerability? and working on our inability to cope? facing what we are afraid to face, and not accepting guilt, but finally accpeting responsibility for our own small part of the universe?

[J]

This is faultless.
Truly inspiring.

[Marie Anzalone]

Thank you, J. I appreciate you stopping by again after all this time.

[Pól]

excellent comidic touch.Hilarious!

[Marie Anzalone]

yes, of course you are right, paulo. racially motivated killing is hysterically funny.

[Pól]

yes- dark comedy at its best

[m.s.early]

This is great. This is to geology what I try to pull off with Physics. You do it elegantly and effectively. Bravo!

[Marie Anzalone]

Thank you, silver. I am a scientist by training and by temperament- and have always been drawn to attempt weaving natural and social sciences in my work. You are very talented in your own use of the medium, and this compliment on my writing thus means even more coming from you. Thank you.

[Perdition]

Or the cracks inside the mirror. This one slides a bullet into the chamber and fires without apology. No intentional hit, rather a solid warning off the bow screaming WAKE UP! I wonder what breeds beneath this fissure? THAT is a cat turned bird that gives this offering power. Fingers snapping for the wealthy flow.

[Marie Anzalone]

sorry for the delay; I thank you for the review. I wonder the same things you do, of course, in different words. Always appreciate seeing your insight and wisdom grace my page.

[VennelaMargame]

Word up!

There is a nice metaphor here, and one that's particularly apropos, knowing you.

One thought is that I had, however, is that I feel like it could be a little more concise and "Imagistic" in the Pound-ian sense. The first three stanzas work quite nicely on their own, or even the first stanza, which gets at the theme without revealing too much.

Just my idea. Hope all is well.

[Marie Anzalone]

Thanks for the review, dear friend. I have been behind on my thank yous, severely depressed and under the gun about everything. I will consider your thoughts when I am able, but I will warn you that I have never been a fan of shortness for the sake of brevity. I believe that each author hones his words, in his own voice, finding his own style, and taking exactly as much space is needed for his message- any more or less will not serve either him or the reader.

[VennelaMargame]

Perfectly fair, Marie. And all the best wishes. I'm here for you if you need anything.

[R J Askew]

very powerful because it mainlines into deep truth .. we are a collection of such geologies .. and when one is locked in some flaw they seldom understand how things are for others in their obsession .. mostly nothing happens, the rumble passes .. but sometimes we end with a LONE SHOOTER or a FRENCH REVOLUTION .. or a BATTLE OF STALINGRAD .. this seems to be out lot as we are an endless complex lot .. even repressors feel hurt when they are toppled .. and then their is the concept in the middle east of the victim's victim .. we have cruelty in us .. we have love also and love can beat cruelty but it has to fight hard to do so .. your poem got me thinking and feeling

[Marie Anzalone]

Thanks, Orlando, I am not versed in the "victim's victim" concept, but would be interested in learning if you'd have time to share?

We each have the capacity to be the greatest and worst that the world has ever known. I have never understood why we are so cruel to our peacemakers... the ones who work hardest, knowing how hard the work is. Glad I got you thinking. That is the idea.

[R J Askew]

The Palestinians are often referred to as the victims' victims.

[Marie Anzalone]

ah... understand now... thanks

[SHEEMA HUQ]

Edgy, intriguing, and appealingly scientific, geographic, you impart knowledge without sounding lecturey, yet rather authoritative, really great writing, fantastic!

[Marie Anzalone]

Thank you very much, Sheema, for the insightful and thoughtful review! I do try to blend my worlds when I write, and it always makes me glad to know when I have hit my mark and reached an audience. Appreciate you stopping by.

[LJW]

You are an incredibly talented human being. All around, with all you know and do, there is no other writer on this site who has the depth and breadth of the global human experience to draw from in the way that you do.

You give voice to mountains, the downtrodden, the victimized, tectonic plates, cultures, and all matters of the heart.

There is a rumbling since Trayvon, a volcanic simmering, and who knows when or if it will blow..

Haunting, intelligent, meaningful writing.

[Marie Anzalone]

Thank you very much for your kind words, LJ. my own voice has been silent for a few weeks, while I moved some stuff around to examine it. I apologize it took me so long to get back to you. Your observations mean a lot to me. I guess what I am trying to do is cohesively weave together my experience and make sense of the connections I do see and feel every day. Living here often gives me a chance for more reflection than we might typically be exposed to. I am a painter... and I think I find myself trying to paint with words. Like every artist, I get frustrated when the results fall so short of the vision. But I think that you, too, know what that is like, too.

[Ken Simm.]

The evolving of emotion takes as much geological time it seems as the moving of tectonic plates. A very striking comparison written in equally vivid prose.
The comparisons you make in your poetry Marie are always more than apropos they are inspired.

[Marie Anzalone]

Thank you, Ken... I think I relate so well to your own writing because we both are so attuned to natural cycles and processes; we see them everywhere and in everything. When you parse out the human experience, don't you find that it is a fascinating web of natural rhythms and instincts and paradigms? I have felt the surface of things shifting for a while- I am not sure there is neutral ground any more. We advance, we learn collectivity, or our grandchildren's world is going to be a scary and inhumane place.