I want someone to explain to me
what’s up with this year;
a lot of crazy stuff is going on –
a global pandemic, protests,
antagonistic politics. California on fire,
front page news two days ago –
our county had the worst air quality
in the world.
We have lost family members –
in May, July, and August.
Today the nuclear plant siren
pierced our hills and I think, what now?
This one…only a test.
There is a word in Spanish
that comes to mind –
una sacudida – a shaking up:
like a tremor so strong it is felt
four hundred miles from its origin,
the shock of being bitten by a snake,
or receiving a jolt by putting
your finger in an electric socket.
This year feels like that;
it seems as if something –
Mother Earth? the universe? God?
wants our attention…
and is going to get it.
