seized up ~
a place where the earth
goes tight,
retracts, then
splits.
a stone wall between
lover's arguing
the fault line between
need and want --
razed in an unrelated quake.

the birds go quiet ...
tornadoes rarely come at night.
the eye of the storm blinks
and human emotion colludes with
the weather. a voice and a spark
accompany thunder.

something acknowledged,
something denied,
a structure settles, the walls
sigh.

a mild swell of emptiness --
dire. accosted echo,
the nucleus of silence,
loudest just before
you get there.