Honshu, Japan earthquake tsunami, 2011

Stout

by Shannon Laws

The thick boned world stabs
at the ocean and moves it
Sea lifts its skirt of waves
crashes them to Earth’s shore

It was enough

It was enough to be stabbed
to relocate away from the familiar
deep lava vents that warmed
the current with breath of conversation

Sea ran to the Earth and lay on it
the soil looks away confused by
seaweed and floss turning in the sky
the life of saltwater raises skins coffin

The Earth is a son of a bitch
that pecks at us all, come hither it calls

Sea laid down its dress on mounds
dirt had no option but to devour

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