Laguna Beach: The Settlement

Coasts and marriages collapse,

bringing houses to wreck

as slowly, quietly the soil

gives way, then splitting wood

and wires. Huge gaps appear.

Last month, when the planes came down,

a woman claimed blood filled

her hands and it wasn't hers.

And yet this urge for shelter.

Our own impulse was to cushion:

arms, furniture, walls, friends.

But unlike those others,

there are no insurance companies

we can sue for settlementonly

ourselves.

Car, furniture, and kids,

forced from the scene,

are half of what they were.

Knowing the fault was long

in forming is of no help.

I think rather of the stone crab