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9/11

by Jane E Pearce

The streets marched

like an obedient army

around the steel and glass

colossus, seen from the sea,

a captain tall, invincible

until molested by devils in the sky.

Screams, racing hearts,

and running feet to escape the monster cloud.

Eyes of disbelief  dared not look back,

could not look back at the horror.

Yet, beyond that holocaust,

babies were born, toast burned,

coffee perked, scholars lectured,

bees gathered nectar,

and moms made peanut butter sandwiches.

News on the TV came

in machine-gun words-rat-a-tat

while my neighbor frantically

mowed his grass-back and forth,

back and forth, back and forth

until the ground was bare.

09/08/2004

Posted on 09/08/2004
Copyright © 2024 Jane E Pearce

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Chris Sorrenti on 09/10/04 at 02:44 AM

A cataclysmic event nicely set into a nutshell.

Posted by JD Clay on 09/10/04 at 01:57 PM

Introspection comes in many forms and yours in poetic style. The last line speaks volumes, Jane...pe4ce

Posted by Christel Crews on 09/12/04 at 04:44 PM

this is beautiful- you have captured it all so well

Posted by Dana E Brossard on 09/16/05 at 06:56 PM

Wonderfully done.

Posted by Christina Bruno on 03/15/06 at 05:33 PM

this is an excellent piece. your images are stark and real, as a new yorker i agree with your painting

Posted by Keith McFarlane on 03/26/08 at 07:59 PM

Stumbled across this -- tremendous job of perspective-setting, somewhat like dialing a telescope in from its highest level of magnification. The precession seems important here, so your order of revelation is very well chosen, from all the way in NY to the house next-door. Good write!

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