Thoughts and Tremors

It's been a while since I posted.  I've been busy with school, busy with writing, and busy with trying to carve a life out of this existence.  Okay, maybe that's a bit too esoteric, but granted, I have been busy.  But a few days ago, the ground shook.  I mean, it literally moved.

This is a scene, via CNN, of people evacuating after Tuesday's quake.

I don't live in California.  I've never even visited any place remotely close.  If that's what living there means having to get used to, I will never make that move.

The earthquake that hit the East Coast on Tuesday caused little damage to the area where I live in southern Maryland.  It did however, scare a lot of people.

I remember thinking that someone upstairs was running.  And then the running got stronger.  When the entire room began shaking, I jumped to my feet and tried not to panic.  At first, I thought I should hide in the closet. But the front door seemed more appealing.  By the time I got outside, from my second floor apartment, I was surrounded by equally alarmed neighbors, and most of the shaking was over.

But my heart kept beating.  I kept trying to figure out if what I'd just felt was real.  The entire world moved.  That's a scary thought and one that made me think:  what if it had been worse?

Earthquake readiness wasn't anywhere on my mind three days ago.  I figured a meteor would hit long before I'd be trying to forget what 5.9 on the Richter scale feels like.  But Tuesday showed me that you have to be prepared for anything.  Even the once-in-a-lifetime East Coast earthquake.

Marcus Jamison, the Rare Poet