When the Earthquake Hit

When the earthquake hit,
Cappelbaum found herself
in flagrante delicto,
hand on the fulcrum
yellow skirt hiked up,
eyes frantically searching the room.

Her very first thought was,
This is what I get
for daring to disturb
the universe. She then closed
her eyes and waited
for the carrying out of it.

But nothing happened—
even as the wave of sound
swept through the living area
with a very loud BRDRRRRRRRRMMM.
Cappelbaum carefully,
gratefully let out

a breath she has held in
for forty-three long years.
The house, she noted calmly,
was not torn in twain.
The earth did not open her loins
to swallow her whole,

bones and all. She sat
in silence for a moment.
She listened. And then,
she leaned her lever on her ful
crum
and moved the world.