Catching Earthquakes

I’ve been trying to catch an earthquake,

before it hits and cracks the surface.

Trying to hold the fault line together;

stitch it up,

still the plates.

Don’t tell me it’s not possible.

I’ve caught one in the past;

stomped it out before it could devastate.

The last one that hit shook the world.

Because earthquakes don’t discriminate.

It tore down what was built,

flattened what was tall

cracked what was once solid.

But also, unexpectedly,

reformed the earth into something new,

created new peaks, transcendent pinnacles

where there had only been flat ground before.

So now I’m trying to withstand,

trying to prevail,

trying to endure,

the forces that are waiting to strike.

But there is something down there,

under the ground;

a tension of two opposing forces,

building pressure.

waiting to explode upward

and shake this place.

I’m trying to catch that earthquake

before it causes this to break.