just a lazy winter afternoon
December 4
middle of a desert day
Desert Hot Springs
a great shock a quake a fearsome time
after shocks kept going until 1957
San Andreas along the San Gorgonio Pass
faults faults faults everywhere
lizards running birds shrieking
cars speeding down desert roads
the earth breaking and shaking
land that breathes anger and throws stones
ruptures of the Coachella Valley
Desert Hot Springs strike-slip
oil loosening brain quaking
blood heating earth quake
from Baja California to Santa Maria
coffee cups shook on tables
at greasy spoons and kitchens cooking
day one eighteen after shocks
Twelve the next day
sixteen the next year
Desert Hot Springs is quiet now
just wait just wait
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