Trembling Earth

Trembling Earth

The child was dead...mother, father too -
crushed in the abyss of the earth's fault line.
Muffled voices echo cries from centuries past
each time earth yawns to engulf its living creatures into its chasms.
Shattered lives breath the stench of the dead,
thanking God for being spared.
The spark of humankind amidst the rubble's roar
seeks life, nothing more.

Harriet Slaughter
Long Beach, NY
Doctors Without Borders