When the woozy realized the earth had broken fissures,
members of committees grew snouts, hooves ad hoc ad hominem…
the room shook. We did not look, we took for granted
who chaired the meeting was nonplussed, an embarrassment
of paws disturbing papers. We might have left but we forgot
the vertical of strategies, the calculus of chalkboards. The sky bulb, smart
phone, access to the data. It was as if a truck had made the building sway
but nowhere was a truck… as if a finger pointed to the lip was thoughtfulness.
We did not use the stairs, we did not use the elevators, we did not use the
wings we had inherited, though useful. We might have left but
napping in the seismic rents, the tremors, we did not recognize
the nature of containment.