Daniel Romo
 Daniel Romo is the author of Moonlighting as an Avalanche (Tebot Bach 2021), Apologies in Reverse (FutureCycle Press 2019), When Kerosene’s Involved (Mojave River Press 2014), and Romancing Gravity (Silver Birch Press 2013). His writing and photography can be found in The Los Angeles Review, PANK, The Good Men Project, Yemassee, Barrelhouse, and elsewhere. He received an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte, and he lives, teaches, and bench presses in Long Beach, CA. More at danieljromo.com.


Contingency

There is no logical explanation for moonlighting as an avalanche. What could be the rationale for impersonating a natural disaster? A trace of rubble cascades into a parade of unruly earth. The drum major keeps time, conducts a blue-ribbon band, and snowballs into catastrophe. Momentum is the result of both following and leading and being in tune to your surroundings is the first step in overcoming a violent effect of gravity. The biggest downfalls are recorded in degree of recovery. Getting back on one’s feet requires regaining a balance implying the original position was stable enough to withstand the slightest uncomfortable breeze. Where the wind blows, the fatal will fall. Trying to uncover the motivation behind any burgeoning calamity requires thinking like a landslide. Survivors always remember the first time they were buried






© 2021 Daniel Romo
Daniel Romo was a Featured Poet at the January 2022 Second Sunday Poetry Series