[work in progress]

As building blocks
of American fortitude
fall from the mourning sky
a city
a nation
a globe of people
have been woken
from the slumber of
ignorance
woken to pleads
needs
stampedes
of neighbors
bleeding with fear
tears running
bodies falling
buildings crumbling
before us
with us
around us

false security has been breached

as dust settles upon us
so does the ash of
lost souls and
lost dreams and
we are lost
climbing our way out
of rubble
climbing our way out
of despair
climbing our way
through each day
afraid to ask
what’s next?

we see panic
in posters of missing persons
desperation–
the wallpaper of the city
this Fall
we fall
into their eyes
searching to know
if it is someone we know
and we know
we all know
these faces
faces frozen in the
iceberg of these times
our memories
our nightmares
our lives
melting before us

we hear panic
in echoes of
live video footage
parading across the screen
replay replay
as if we could forget
the news, America’s
Reality TV screen
smoke screen
smoke in our eyes
dust in our lungs
fear in our city
anger boiling over
over spilled blood
over ethnic lines
over nations pride
revenge
poisoning global education
choking children into
weapons of retaliation
and now we hold flags high

we are under attack
we are at war, but
we are Gen X
and we are not
prepared

11/17/2001

Posted on 11/17/2001
Copyright © 2024 Julie Adams