29/365, 10/30 Surprised by Gravity

We respect the mass movements of earth
both gradual and sudden
landslides and washouts
slump and creep of hillsides
the erosion of riverbanks and mountain roads

The cracking and sloughing is a leveling force
wrenching rocks and soil from mountain slopes
turning swampland to fields
valleys to plains
masterfully orchestrated by gravity

We take the downward force for granted
know what will become of whatever goes up
It is never gravity that makes the news
only our surprise that it pulls on mountains and dust
the way it does everything else

Were it not for tectonics
the endless upheaval of earth
the landscape would flatten
hills and valleys would erase one another
polishing this sphere we call home

It should come at no surprise
when the rain falls and runs downhill
when the sediment builds up here
and is washed away there
when predictable nature disrupts well laid plans.

We gasped when the old man's profile fell
We watch houses wash away on instant replay
build a city at the precarious base of cliffs
When it is buried beneath rubble
we wonder how this could have happened
How our feet are still planted so firmly
on the ground