Art by Susan Wilkinson
σεισμός
~ seismós ~ Greek: earthquake
Nadine Ellsworth-Moran
The study of elastic waves crisscrossing the earth
tells where the fissures will rise, tectonic plates
shift, magma surge beneath our feet,
our feet that once stood solid–
where the boundaries of our bodies, unmappable,
a landscape of our own making,
will alter along fault lines
unnoticed. I run my fingers
across my sternum feel the fracture burn–
molten seas beneath my rib-boned caverns,
I fold inward in your aftershocks, sudden
tremors, leave me to quake & cough
until exhausted. I dissolve into hollowcarved
silence, emerge a new continent.
~ seismós ~ Greek: earthquake
Nadine Ellsworth-Moran
The study of elastic waves crisscrossing the earth
tells where the fissures will rise, tectonic plates
shift, magma surge beneath our feet,
our feet that once stood solid–
where the boundaries of our bodies, unmappable,
a landscape of our own making,
will alter along fault lines
unnoticed. I run my fingers
across my sternum feel the fracture burn–
molten seas beneath my rib-boned caverns,
I fold inward in your aftershocks, sudden
tremors, leave me to quake & cough
until exhausted. I dissolve into hollowcarved
silence, emerge a new continent.