The day before the shaking

Was like any other day.

We ate, we laughed, we shopped, we slept.

But we were restless, sensing something would happen.

Busy, anxious, couldn’t settle.

And you were silent.

So, we were just waiting.

 

We were like pools of water,

Lying on the dusty ground.

Children jumped in us, and screamed with delight,

animals drank, flies hovered,

but we were static and stagnant.

And eventually, the water would evaporate

and we would be no more

Relying on past days

The nostalgia of having been useful once

But not now.

 

We were waiting

For the shaking

For the windstorm

To blow us to new heights

For the earthquake

To shake us out of our complacency

For the torrent of a river

To carry us beyond the comfortable

We didn’t want it

Yet at the same time we longed for this new life.

 

The day before the shaking

All was quiet and still.

 

Then the tremors started

The earth shook beneath our feet.

No longer a pool

But a river in full flood.

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