The bodies fell from the sky.
They were not office chairs
or filing cabinets. Jesus, they were
people.
He was astounded, somewhat
obsessed. Nine years later,
still watching (and not just today).
Watching like it was live TV
unfolding right before his eyes.
“Look at that, that’s a person.”
Then a second black spot on the screen,
“there’s another one, look,
did you see it?”
Another fell,
“see that?”
A prompt after each one, and
had to have lasted five minutes
at the very least.
I choose not to look, it feels
like some kind of violation.
Instead, I watch the paper
flickering down. There’s a
woman on the street picking
pieces up. She lifts them close
to her face, squints her eyes to read.
I think
I would have done that too.
They were not office chairs
or filing cabinets. Jesus, they were
people.
He was astounded, somewhat
obsessed. Nine years later,
still watching (and not just today).
Watching like it was live TV
unfolding right before his eyes.
“Look at that, that’s a person.”
Then a second black spot on the screen,
“there’s another one, look,
did you see it?”
Another fell,
“see that?”
A prompt after each one, and
had to have lasted five minutes
at the very least.
I choose not to look, it feels
like some kind of violation.
Instead, I watch the paper
flickering down. There’s a
woman on the street picking
pieces up. She lifts them close
to her face, squints her eyes to read.
I think
I would have done that too.
Michelle M. Buchanan 09/11/2010
