Fault Line

Strike-slip valleys cut through hills.

Continental plates lock jaws.
Centuries pass.
Subterranean slip deficits accumulate.
Thirty millimeters annually vanish into depths.
Subterranean tension mounts in dark fissures.
Creeks flow down, meet seams, bend left.
Old flow paths remain empty.

Seismologists record horizontal gaps.
The fault remains quiet.
Pressure grows in subterranean dark.
Single sudden snaps settle ledgers.

Continental crust binds hard.
Deep friction holds rock intact.
Ancient fault lines hoard power.
Surface appearance mimics peace.
Stillness holds.

A hundred years of pressure.
Valley floors hold back kinetic surges.
Instruments detect what should have shifted.
Records show absolute calm.
Seismographs draw flat ink lines.

Yet the fault continues.

Winter passes.
Summer passes.
Tectonic plates refuse to yield.
They squeeze together under immense force.

Creeks reach the fault
and change direction.
Dry channels remain open.
Old alignments persist.
Offsets grow with passing years.

Hidden energy waits for release.
Tension requires no sound.
The fault keeps what should have moved.

Valleys wait for snaps.
Locked zones break.
Missing motion returns.
The space between two points closes.