“Shakened” by Mary Beth Asaro

Farewell to the earthquake
resurrecting the green sunlight
towards a blazing star

as I taste sour juices from a buzzing
apple tree drenched in a decade
of horse pee.

Farewell to the earthquake
that brought down my home
like a tidal wave on a sand castle.

I search for answers
in the dust graveled memories
of The Great Depression,

but there are no words
to put back the stability
of a broken cardboard.