The Hollow Where You Were

Scientists cannot explain
what has happened
but there is only a crust of earth
eggshell-thick
beneath all the places you have been.

Everything looked the same
after you left
— steel, concrete, soil, grass —
but I know, now, how
it all turns to sand
when I walk
I have to choose my steps
carefully.

I do a lot of back-pedaling
to keep the earth
from swallowing me whole.

—leesberg, va
19 apr 2010

gauche
22 Apr 10