He Thought of Planes (2015)

(Mexico Beach, Florida)

  I

Wish the headlines had read

The Falling Man made it home instead.

Leave it to the evening news,

And your lucky if you get the blues.

  II

Now E-M-S calls all have to wait,

For none among them can adjust fate.

Then again, what can men do when faced

With engines of such reckless hate.

  FIRST INTERLUDE

  They'll need guardian angels.

        ...

    He thought of planes

      And of whom to fly them.

  III

Oh, a morning view unlike any we knew,

As staring down at the reflecting pools

That wink below like jewels

Became the last thing they knew.

  IV

Otherwise, the skies should be clear,

Especially this time of the year;

But these agents of chaos and fear,

These sages play off like an ominous cheer.

  SECOND INTERLUDE

  They'll need guardian angels.

        ...

    He thought of planes

      And of where to fly them.

  V

As traffic gathers across the bridge

To watch the skyline burn like a ridge

Back-lit by the setting sun,

As the ways of contemporary life come undone...

  VI

As the mirrors of globalism itself

Crumble under the gun.

Where there were two, one stood by itself...

And suddenly, there were none.