Sinkholes in Jefferson County, 1973

"According to the Alabama State Geologist's Office, recent heavy rains have caused several sinkholes to appear suddenly and without any warning in the north-west region of Jefferson County. These holes are capable of swallowing up vehicles, large sections of interstate highways, whole houses, and even larger structures. Residents of the area affected are urged to be extremely cautious." -- news report from local radio station.

There's something here
that still is telling us
that being cautious
doesn't really count for much:

Some forty fathoms down
the limestone liquefies
and slips away
in secret streams
beneath the earth.

We cannot see it,
So we never worried, no,
but pitched a town or two above,
began to live, to love, to breed,
to found our ways upon the land --

to count on permanence,
our usual mistake.

Now, in this very rainy time,
the ancient streams beneath the earth
dissolve what we thought solid --
if, perchance, we thought about such things at all --
and spot by spot, the crust

gives way

gives way

gives way

-- Warren F. O'Rourke, 1973 (revised in 2005)

An earlier version of this poem was published in 1973 in Perspective, a literary magazine published by the University of Washington.

In April of 2005, all along a Birmingham street of posh old homes built in the 1890's and early 1900's -- all along that street sinkholes began to form. A neighborhood primarily occupied by young professionals, a place where fledgling docs ride mountain bikes and baby lawyers practice running for the April marathon, a place where 30-something soccer moms drive Escalades and Hummers. . .well, one morning these folks awoke to find a sinkhole swallowing a dentist's brand-new SUV.