CENTRIFUGAL

 

it felt like summer lightning

when the air is charged

but we were only standing in our own backyard

trying not to think about the earth still turning round

trying to do something to stay anchored to the ground

but it is hard, evacuees,

to find the anchor in the rifling breeze

that just keeps turning over leaves

and the debris, the centrifugal unease

kansas before OZ, you know what I mean

it's not a love lyric or a placeholder in line

it's just the vaguest feeling

that we're running out of time

and nothing that's here now

is a solid guarantee

that we will still be standing

when that emerald breeze hits town

I understand

things don't always go the way you plan

you can't always tell which angel band

is coming to take you home

or when

the seasons might have to bend

to get you through 

that pinhole mountain gap that someone made for you

a long long time ago.

mary angela douglas 23 march 2023