THE EARTH MOVED

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Submitted Date 07/16/2019
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The Earth Moved
Age 33, Durham, North Carolina, 1977
The poem is about my 2nd wife; we have been together now for forty years.
-- This is one poem, from my autobiographical series of poems, that I posted here at WriteSpike. Go to my Stories section for others. They are in chronological order. --

The night I met the love of my life,
my second wife,
the Earth really did move
as the Jack Tar Hotel in Durham
fell into a pile of rubble

just before I went out that evening
I did two things I never do
I looked in the mirror
and made a clown face
like Harpo Marx
while waving my open palms on each side
and then saying out loud
"I wonder who I will meet tonight"

an hour later I was at a party
talking to a woman who was new in town,
who crafted her own jewelry designs

and in the next hour,
I knew that I would marry her

when we were the last to leave the party
I convinced her to come with me to Durham
to see the dynamiting demolition
of the Jack Tar Hotel
a local landmark
that was to be taken down
at six that morning

having time to spare
we went to my house
for some coffee
but then fell asleep
on the couch

in my dreams
the moon was being pulled into a different orbit
and I thought I felt the Earth shake
knowing my life would never be the same
that something had ended
that something was beginning

of course we overslept
but having missed the destruction
we circled the downtown -
where the fifty-year-old skyscraper had stood
was now blue sky,
empty like a scar

we drove to a local truck stop
where they served the best breakfast -
over scrambled eggs and coffee
I told her about my vision
of art, dreams and history
of Jungian ideas
and photographs I wanted to take

having studied art
she understood the impulse
and listened,
a smile growing on her face
instead of the puzzled look
I usually got

* * * * *
about a year later
somewhere in the Florida Keys
she and I launched
our $29.95 inflatable boat
into a hidden cove
where clear water
showed large boulders
scattered on the bottom
and the white coral floor
pulled the blue of the sky
into the sea

near sunset
floating in this garden of rock
we watched the sky and sea merge
with a shade of turquoise
I have never seen before or since -
where in twilight
we could not tell the sky from the water
and we seemed to float into the air

I had at a last found a woman
who had the right balance
passionate and sensible
creative and practical
with the best laugh
and who looked different
from any other girlfriend
but with a unique beauty
that never faded

we would help each other
both of us could be trusted
and we would be loyal and faithful
but not tied down

I had finally washed ashore
on the right island

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