To a Query

No, a quake,
downside
up to vibrations
that tell apart
the yard maple
from its bark,
inside being outside, see
that shag of brown grass
perhaps an old man’s beard
show through the dirt
still hiding school children
from lessons in life sciences
whose last slowing calls
seize the essence of the matter
inside this earth
as it shakes
free of her burdens,
life races past
all attachments,
leaving you
oh but where

Islamabad
2005