Virtual September

Through your words
I see angels fall from pillars of flame,
but cannot taste your salted tears.

Through your words
I hear the chaos of a thousand souls,
but not one of your choked sobs.

Through your words
I touch the broken shards, pick through the scraps of paper,
scraps of lives. But My hands are empty,
My hands are clean.

Is it the same for the leaders of terror and war,
Too far to see or hear or feel.
Too far removed, too distant, too un-real, too un-real.


Bill – Sept 27th, 2002
After talking to a friend who had witnessed
the attack at ground zero.