One Sunday, toward the end of June,
the world stopped spinning.
In Jerusalem, high noon stretched down;
tassels of sun held duties dangling
suspended in time
paused.
In New York where no one was sleeping
the tall buildings appeared to sway
and people held on to poles,
parking meters, each other -- perfect strangers.
The stars down under seemed to pitch
and the kiwis rolled and bounced
around like forgotten fruit
in the back of a truck.
And the halt made everyone's stomach
and eyes and heart and brain
start spinning within
whether moving, whether still.
But then slowly, oh so slowly
(no one had ever noticed how slowly),
the world began to spin again
from setting sun to rising sun
from east to west to west to east,
and looking down the clocks began
to twitch and stutter backwards.
Each right turn turned to the left
and left turns wheeled around again
and Earth seemed so confused that
cyclones twisted back from Texas
and twisters wound back to the sky
and rivers crept a mirrored course
of the one they'd run before.
Right and left of me, people thought
aloud, "So will I go to work tomorrow
Or will it be Saturday?"
Important riddle.
But little confused was I when I
felt my heart beat join the wobble.
It was all the same
sound and pulse and rhythm
of the moment when
you told me it was over.
My world turned west to east that day.
Earth's heart, her core, must have
this day
been broken down the middle.
(hmm, what do you think of this one?)
