The Aftershock

Sudden
Severe
Violent
Shaking out of your control
Realizing it's an earthquake
For dear life, you try and take hold
The Richter scale gives seismic readings of an 8.2
Surveying the damage afterwards
Analyzing what to do
Piece by piece, you attempt
To put your life back together
Out of the shambles remaining
Now changed forever
Preconceived ideas about life
Never the same subsequently
You make forward progress
Though seeing things differently
Over time
The horrific memories begin to fade
You become more at ease - no longer paralyzed & afraid
Then out of nowhere
The plates begin to shift
A flashback or encounter causes you to reminisce
The tectonic plates of your past
Collide with the present
Rekindling the pain
Revealing lingering lament
Bandages ripped off
Open wounds revealed
Staring at sores in places you thought already healed
Even when not visible
The fault lines still exist
Threatening to deliver one of life's little twists
When you least expect it
Time turns back the clock
You're caught off guard
By the turbulent tremors
Of an aftershock