THE DAY THE EARTH MOVED
It was an ordinary Saturday morning
A summer’s day so cold
The skies not breathing anymore
Just waiting to die
April 25th
A day to remember
It was the day the earth moved…
Nature gone wild
And we… insignificant beings
Out of our homes
Our comfort zones
Dying… crying… screaming
For some respite
While temples…hills and monuments crumbled
It was an ordinary Saturday
When we collectively cried…died
Scrambled…gathered our meager belongings
Father…mother…sister and brother
Then just fragmented relationship statuses
We were dying
A nation crying
On an ordinary Saturday morning…
The day the earth moved…
The rains fell down on us all
That first night
While we tried to find some warmth
Within blankets and quilts soaked by the summer rain
The day the earth moved…..
“MAGNITUDE 7.8 CALLING!”
(An experimental prose poem)
I felt the earth shudder beneath my feet. A slow rumbling arose from the depths of the ground that I stood upon. The chill outside had crept into the room permeating each and every layer of our existence.
The earth moved that day
On a cold early summer morning
And all hell broke loose
Sprawled out into the streets
Into open spaces
Alleyways
“Magnitude 7.8 calling!”
“Hello! Is there anybody out there?”
I scrambled to my feet.. ready to flee but my feet refused to move. And I saw the room moving in slow motion.. a waltz danced to the Symphony of Death in D minor.
The earth moved that cold Saturday
Starting a chain reaction we felt
Every moment
A thousand prayers uttered
Storming Heaven’s Gate
Oh! how we prayed
The day the earth moved
“Magnitude 7.8 calling!”
” Hello! Is anybody out there?”
THE DAY THE EARTH MOVED – PART II
Inside our tattered tent
A newborn crying
Unaware of the horrors
That Nature unleashed that
Ordinary Saturday day
Its cradle rocked every five minutes
And then it slept
While buildings toppled over
Or rested on other high rises
Defying gravity itself…
On an ordinary Saturday morning…..
AFTER THE SHAKE
You came again
Reminding us
Mere mortals
About the fragility
Of our existence
That we
Who live within walls
Can never be safe
That our homes
And dwelling places
Are just illusions
That can fade away
Any day
The earth decides to move…
Anita Limbu Moktan
