I thought I was passing out 

from skipping meals and too much vivarin

then you asked wide eyed

“They have subways in San Jose?”

I knew it then

And before the shimmering gold tower

swayed and danced before us

Grabbed your arm and screamed

“Run!”

To where you asked

but there was no place to go but over the hill 

to our home by the sea.

We drove the serpentine backroads

Over chasms and raised rubble

To a refugee camp of a cul de sac

Neighbors, strangers to us

laying on lawns 

the hum of the constant chatter 

through the panic sound system.

silenced only when the next

but not last

aftershock rumbled 

the houses sleeping bags, trees, road

It was a long night 

some sought refuge

in lines and bong hits 

others curled up tight 

to the promise of another

sunrise, a better day

sleepless in the wait

Some calls got through to those watching

the world series

on the other side of the world

before the lines were frayed and exhausted

Some who had not heard

kept tearful vigil

at the coverage on repeat

of the bridge giving way

crushing hundreds inside

The Sun

She did rise

The City

she did fall

and we went on

back to where we came from

or towards were we thought we were going

when push came to shove

to swish

boom

sway-sway

everything changed

Our only solace
that dirt poor indian summer
was the beach
where we lay on sand
as it surged and rolled
with tectonic tides