Culture Shock
Ten Years Later
The Alibi requested poems, written from any angle, for the 10 th anniversary of 9/11. This is a cross-section of the offerings.
“City Blues”
Into the great blue lonely
Cold morning, the sun hidden
But for a moue’ on the clouds
In the gutter, a cigarette
Rides along, buoyed by
A crushed lipstick print.
The attempted lift, a weight
Of sorrow, of exhaustion
Through the cold, the sun
Attempts to rise
Above the mountain
To light the concrete
Dry the morning sidewalks
Call the street sweeper
To prepare the day for
Civilized souls and business
All the comings and goings
Of wingtips and high heels
And elevator rides up to nowhere.
(Georgia Santa-Maria)
[Untitled]
no plane hole in sight
points to duh an inside job
fuck the government
those who knew now dead
detonation so precise
witnesses flew free
ah sweet victimhood
innocence in red white blue
your Spring blood bouquet
what makes us believe
our truths too hard to conceive
lies fall down in dust
the bad guys got us
how to get them back?
truths buried at sea
Of course you know where
Clinton said of Osama
oh she caught the shit
war toys for boys yeah
don’t tell me war’s passé
it’s hard cash, hon bun
drone bombs, time bombs, jobs
un be fuck ing leave able
still kill kill killing
educate yourself
check the timeline
detonation bombs
too hard to believe?
Bush would kill us for profit?
Bush and co. love war
Bush Rove Wolfowitz
The Hague indicts for war crimes
Rumsfeld Cheney too
(Merimee Moffitt)
“5/16/02... 8 months later”
i served during peacetime
never had to take the point
on a real patrol
but now i know what it's like
to see every crack in the
sidewalk
to study strangers approaching me
from afar and gauge how close
is close enough
i hear barking dogs from 3 blocks away
and ask why
in public places i sit facing the door
anticipate the look that says
"i-don't-have-anything-to-lose"
the icy gaze raising up to God
just before the unleashing of hell
on earth
at night i dream
of silver pterodactyls
blinded by the sun
circling for a place
to land
and angels
angels falling from the sky
with singed wings
(Richard Vargas)
STYLE= "font-weight: bold;" >“A Christmas Story”
Avoiding truth, hiding from what’s
eating my heart
9/11, a self-inflicted wound
for greed,
for oil,
for nothing
but to
grease America’s
slide into Fascism
My country,
a figment
of my imagination.
Imagine a nation,
imagine a nation
A nation of givers
instead of takers
Is it too late?
We will pay the cost in the blood
of our children.
Where can it be said
if not in poetry
Holding it in so long,
10 years
My son’s service, his life force
misused to line
the pockets
of the Oilygarchy.
Peak oil, a myth they say,
may be the best hope
of humanity
Everyone’s cars
rusting in their yards
good for planters, dog houses,
earthships
We’ll have to relearn how to die then
What will it take for us
to remember that
we are a family
that we are no more
separated than 50th cousins
that the DNA
of life
spirals in a circle
connecting all living things?
It’s all coming to an end.
We are all actively
participating in bringing
about our own end
Taking so many innocents with us
already so many
gone from memory
Those free of self-consciousness
hostages to human selfishness
Our time so short
our ideas so inflated
“What is man
That Thou art mindful of him
and the son of man
That Thou visitest him?
For thou hast
made him
a little lower than
the angels, alleluia
and hast crowned him with glory, glory”
What will humanity crown itself with?
The first of earth’s children
to consciously choose
the hour of their own departure
A glory more than questionable.
Psalm 8:4-5
(Susy Crandall)
[Untitled]
Til then...
It’s been quite a few sunsets since
rush hour broke for the sky
Building One shed people
From her view like tears
Then the other one cried
On the morn of her death
New York smoked twin cigarettes
Down to the ground
(Hakim Bellamy)
[Untitled]
It's 9/11
Ten years have already passed
Loss and grief have not
It's been a decade
since New York's skyline was changed
and heroes were born
No more Twin Towers
Empty space is all that's left -
Constant reminder
Terror struck our hearts
As airplanes struck the Towers
Our Flag still stands tall
(Rev. Rebecca Guile Hudson)
[Untitled]
Memories of planes
Havoc softened by seasons
Of migrating cranes
(Jeanette Alderete)
