The geologist takes his old rock
chiseler to the flunky student’s skull
and then impresses upon him
the concept of earth tectonics
the hard way, mashing the plates
of his gored gaia until the crust
breaks open and a tsunami
of blood and brain splurts
out of the volcano he’s made —
lava of the learned, burning
hot red and gray all the way down
the cold canyons of his corduroy sleeves
