WORLD TRADE CENTER -- BURIED HOPE
By Armando P. Ibáñez
Collapsed father
mother
body limp
buried in imploded steel and glass
my daughter
son
silenced lips
searching for you
in the twisted, jagged concrete
hope buried deep
deep
in unreachable crevices.Human ants
blistered, bleeding hands
sprained ankles
twisted feet
callused nostrils
in desperate search of you - eyes looking back.Husband
wife
lover,
friend
pall of burnt jet-fuel
over you.
hope
I pray
lift the pall.
outside air place your lips upon theirs
breath of life.Light,
there must be light!
life.
there must be.
there must . . .You must be found
you must.
alive or dead
I have to hold you once again,
touch you
see you once more.Hope,
buried deep,
emerge I pray
or I will hate you ever more
I¹ll never pray.
I¹ll bury you in your own
suffocating grave!No,
no,
I¹m sorry,
hope,
I¹ll build you a monument instead.
but, please, shed your light,
your breath upon my beloved,
my heart,
my life.Hope,
don¹t linger here with me.
please,
go to my beloved
and bring my beloved here to me,
I pray.
