#title Mercalli scale #author Robin Dellabough #SORTauthors Robin Dellabough; #date 2020 #source [[https://www.fifthestate.org/archive/406-spring-2020/mercalli-scale]] #lang en #pubdate 2020-04-11 #notes Fifth Estate #406, Spring, 2020 For every child born craving and abandoned every child whose belly bulged with emptiness every child who cried alone in a bare white room every child wounded by a father, uncle, grandfather every child told to pick up guns against other children every child who worked below dank ground every child shaken, burned, bruised: for every child who has ever endured, may an infinite army of children march across bridges, invade cities, skulk in forests, steal into beds, cram rivers, swarm roads, the sound of small-footed multitudes a rageful roar growing louder and louder until one great unceasing howl cracks open this unspeakable earth to swallow those who ever hurt a single child. Robin Dellabough is a poet, editor and writer. Her poems have appeared in numerous small press publications, and she has written, edited and contributed to more than sixty books. She lives in Irvington, N.Y.