Friday, September 9, 2011

9/11: One Possible Future (a poem)

It’s no longer the cosmic shock
so much like late frost kills early buds;
but rather acceptable sadness,
the realization all leaves fall.

It’s no longer the rhythmic flag sway
(America this, that, or them),
the extravagance of anger
became a cross, a mosque, a scar.

It’s no longer about people—
twin towers are labeled: Data, Debris;
ashes in barrels and potpourri bowls,
such casual causalities.

The ground went from zero to sixty;
clock hands hid seconds, seized time,
shook sand over sleep-swollen eyes—
now nothing more than holiday.

It’s a calendar X, a movie, game—
that’s the cold, hard reality;
check this box to initiate pain
and pilot those ill-fated planes.


Copyright ©2011, Angel Zapata

This poem was inspired by the Poetry Matters Celebration word prompts: Reality check, pain, sadness, shock, anger.

8 comments:

  1. This says much more than it appears to on the surface. I love the last stanza.

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  2. I like the message of this. All that tragedy we see on the news is a lot more affecting when it's personal.

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  3. This is incredibly powerful. The second stanza, with its final line really got me.

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  4. Your poem brings reality down to its core as only you can. Thanks for this.

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  5. Striking, Angel.
    The forgetting and the lessening, as natural as it is, still leaves an awkward dissonance between heart and mind.
    Nice take on the prompts too.

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  6. I found this quite by accident, and was pleasantly surprised by its sensitivity of tone. The cadence never trips up the theme, or visa-versa. You gots yo'self another follow.

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  7. I really appreciate you all offering your feelings on this poem. Just a few months before 9/11, I had relocated to Georgia after living in NYC for 30 years. It's still very painful to think about. I knew people who didn't make it out of those buildings alive.

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  8. Thank you. My heart still aches. Prayers still for the families that hurt.

    Happy Friday!


    ♥.•*¨Elizabeth¨*•.♥

    Can Alex save Winter from the darkness that hunts her?

    YA Paranormal Romance, Darkspell coming fall of 2011!

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