Fault Lines

I am fascinated by the multiple meanings of some words.  The term “fault lines” is a prime example of the way those meanings can literally collide.  I wrote this poem after a tragic event when a great deal of energy was expended on who to blame, rather than how to heal.  

We sift
through
the rubble
like desperate
seismologists
after an
earthquake
searching
for the truth.
 
The compulsion
to blame
supersedes
the need
to understand.
 
We seek
only
the fault
line,
wanting it
to be straight,
pointing
to an answer,
a reason,
a target.
 
The shifting
plates are
jagged–
cracks
radiate
in every
direction.
 
Obsessed
with fault,
we ignore the
aftershocks
that threaten
to swallow us
whole.