Reasons To Be Fearful


from the ABC set 2005-2006

Birds without feathers
fly underground, disturbing
foundations. Creatures

unbound by daylight,
unseen by god. Feverish
contrails make ripples

in the sod. Burning
deep strata, where seismic dreams
of magma fingers

sculpt rocky data.
Tectonic music inspires
continents to dance,

while subsonic beats
from wings in cavernous dark
shake vaulted ballrooms.

Gravity sings, voice
cracked. Geological time
harsh upon the tongue.

Wracked but not ruined,
wild predators circle, beaks
pecking at the core.

Eyes without a smile.
Dead avian gaze, rending
countries in their claws,

as days in earthquake
season's unholy silence
grind in toothless mouths.

Cattle find reasons
to be fearful, herds buried
beneath shed plumage.

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