DENNIS MCGONAGLE
Disaster in Paradise
Dogs hear it first. That awful rumbling sound
Coming from deep down underground
You think you feel a shudder and
You hope it was just the wind
Or maybe a large truck
On the next block
The kitchen is rattling
Like a flivver with a busted tie rod
The rattling gets louder and turns into a roar
Then all of the dishes fall to the floor
The house is hopping up and down
Like a sugared up five-year-old
On a backyard trampoline
There’s a tidal wave in the swimming pool
Sidewalk moving like a roller coaster
The street splits down the middle
Like cheap jeans on a fat guy
Uprooted trees moan as they
Begin their slow motion fall
Here in SoCal, we’ve got it made
No twisters or ice storms
No hurricanes or snow
The Rose Parade is on TV and
America is watching
Nothing but sunshine
But we do have to suffer
A quake now and then,
The end of the world
As we know it
I take a walk uptown
And all of the chimneys have fallen down
Rows of buildings like sandcastles
Washed away by a wave
Shattered glass storefronts wrapped in yellow tape
Dennis Mcgonagle earned an MFA Degree from Cal State Long Beach in studio art in 2004. He is best known for his urban landscapes and street murals. Each of his paintings is a poem about color. McGonagle has recently added poetry to his creative output. His poems have been published in River’s Voice, the literary magazine for Rio Hondo College.
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