9/11

Not sure if anything captures my emotions about this day, both then and now, better than this poignant piece by artist Alex Ross so I'll let it speak for itself.

Today

A child's
Crayola scrawl
of blue sky
and round yellow-armed sun
punctuated by
white cotton clouds
and arcing rainbows
suddenly transforms
into stabs of grey
and bright white
angry
piercing
lightning bolts.
Who knew
it was going to
rain today?

For H.B.

Wings

I used to tightrope
across the line
between fear
and courage.
Now I dance
knowing
that if I start to fall
I will fly.

Shine

Easy baby
now is the time
to transcend tears
to rise
luminescent
not impervious to pain
but able to absorb
each emotion
and guide it
to your will.
To shine
always brighter
than the looming darkness.

For Good

Cosmic energies
align for good.
More powerful
than all the shitstorms
I must dodge.
Impending doom?
Kiss my ass.

If I Could Go Back

This is my fourth assignment for the spring semester (second session) of my creative writing workshop.  Just a spoiler alert in case any of my classmates stumble upon this post and don't want to see it before Wednesday night.  ;)

If I could go back
and start life again
would I do now
what I did then?
Would I make many changes
would I live life anew?
Would it make any difference
what I chose to do?
Would changing my past
bring hope or derision
satisfaction or
questioning every decision?
If I wiped out mistakes
knew then what I know now
would I be a happier
person somehow?
Correcting my errors
might destroy my soul.
Would I be weak
if I sought every goal
and was met with success?
Would it take a toll?
To go back in time
and erase all the pain
might lead to a girl
who is perfectly plain
and possibly even more
slightly insane.
No, I'll keep my past
the way it must be
and remain deeply flawed
and imperfectly me.

Misdirected Melancholia

Wait
do not collapse
under the weight
of the world.
That
seems to be
my job.