A few overturned chairs
a tremor in the rooms
swaying chandeliers
and trembling of domes—

We never expected this
on a calm August afternoon
when birds bolted from their perches
and the dog fled before the pictures
hurled themselves from shelves,
and the afternoon rush
was hastened by two hours.

It was a moment like none
we have experienced.
This moment is like none
we have experienced.

It does not take an earthquake
for the calamitous
to collide with the mundane:
A cell forgets to self-destruct.
a heart unexpectedly breaks.

No jarring is heard
but all the earth shakes.