Images of New York Stan Goldberg October 14, 2001 Grieving and Recovery, Poems I began writing Images of New York six days after 911 as I sat on a park bench three blocks from Ground Zero. It was the most difficult piece I ever wrote. It first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2001 and since then has appeared on numerous websites. S. Goldberg (2001) San Francisco Chronicle, October. SIGN UP TO GET ACCESS I agree to have my personal information transfered to AWeber ( more information ) Subscribe to get updates and receive your ebook - Family Conflicts During Health Crises: 13 Best Strategies To Prevent ThemWe hate spam. Your email address will not be sold or shared with anyone else. The 6 Train stops at Lexington to refrains of Ava Maria and pristine pictures of the missing reappear on graffetied walls always smiling, sometimes with friends, but mostly with children While empty gray buildings stand beneath a blue sky, and earth generated clouds drift up and vanish as smells of devastation and death combine,easily passing through clean white masks offered by tired police. People push to photograph images too horrible to forget of twisted steel skeletons guarding lifeless spaces that held dreams of people whose families wait but already know While a Sousa march blares from speakers, for the benefit of people too numb to listen, too grieved to care, and phamleteers thrust salvation and doom into hands willing to accept anything. And reporters tape the perfect interview while thousands of cell phones describe images that have no words to people who listen but cannot understand, and the Met quietly closes the Islamic art exhibit. Babies play in a world newer than they, while pigeons take crumbs from trembling fingers, and bruised New Yorkers pull out damp cloths from Gucci suits and stained overalls As patriotic songs are played on a steel drum to those waiting for half-priced tickets to empty shows, while a drifting smell stops conversations in mid-word until it moves on, and repeats at each new block. Candles glow in front of fire stations in which flags are readied to wrap comrades, while another new world night begins, and glasses clink to missing friends in quiet restaurants to the sobs of all who hear. And memories more surreal than a Dali painting reluctantly slip behind mesh walls, recalled again and again by innocent sounds, while the world wonders which road is taken by people whose outrage will define the century. copyright 2001 Stan Goldberg, stangoldbergwriter.com This article can be reproduced and distributed without charge for any non-commercial project if the source is provided. Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Sorry for adding Captcha, but the volume of spam requires it * × = 81 Subscribe to get updates and receive your ebook -Family Conflicts During Health Crises: 13 Best Strategies To Prevent Them