No Such Thing as a Small Earthquake
A poem by Dave Seter

No Such Thing as a Small Earthquake

A small earthquake jots
its way through earth,
making teacups in the cupboard whisper.

You once cradled a secret
beneath your lips as if holding
a tornado tightly.

Spinning too many
plates on sticks you
dropped a few and so did I.

I don’t need an earthquake
to tell me the teacups
at Disneyland are still spinning.

We had the lips
of children once,
but not anymore.

About the Author:

Dave Seter is an environmental engineer, poet, essayist, and the author of Don’t Sing to Me of Electric Fences (Cherry Grove Collections) and Night Duty (Main Street Rag). He is also an emerging translator of contemporary Lithuanian poetry. He has been named Sonoma County Poet Laureate for 2024-26. More at: https://www.daveseter.com On Instagram: @daveseter_ecopoet

Poetry Breakfast publishes a new poem every weekday morning.
If you’d like your poems considered for publication visit our Poetry Submissions page.

Follow Poetry Breakfast
Facebook