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9/11
by Jane E PearceThe 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 © 2025 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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