The guards in the towers
at the prison 
woke up. 
The garbage men 
on Avenue A 
stopped loading,
but only for a moment. 
Old Mrs. Rempe 
at the nursing home 
thought she was in 
California,
even though 
her husband retired
from the navy in '71.
Jim Huss
(the one with diabetes 
so bad, bless his heart)
felt it, but his wife 
thought he was 
crazy-
until she saw it on the 
Today Show, by God. 
The swingspan bridge 
didn't sway
but Mike Rodeffer
felt it on the train
running east,
out of state. 
Sister Martha 
fell down 
while cleaning 
the altar
at St. Mary's 
but knew it wasn't 
the rapture for 
it just didn't feel
right. 
It was only 
a 5.4. 
Small on the Richter scale,
But I doubt Mr. Richter
has ever been 
to Fort Madison.