here in southern California
nobody talks about
earthquakes
it’s the black sheep the white
elephant the purple cow grazing
in our back yards
the one we never want to excite
into head-butting our homes
or stomping on roofs
you mid-westerners must do the same
never stir your coffee too fast
lasso your cattle in a storm
or fly kites at all
to keep tornadoes from awakening
and here I am making
all this noise on my sofa
on a very quiet morning
when anyone could be listening
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