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If it falls, will it be heard?
A panorama falls
Everyone was there
It was heard
The sirens heard it
The ambulances heard it
The police cars and fire trucks heard it
The TV channels broadcasting around the world heard it
It was heard far away in Afghanistan
It was heard in Beverly Hills
Even Moscow heard it
And they often hear only what they want to hear
It was heard in the South Bronx where I was born
And it was heard in Los Angeles where my children were born
I know for a fact it was heard in Las Vegas where my grandchildren were born because
My daughter called me at dawn to let me know she heard it
I am afraid to sleep tonight because last night I slept like a baby and when I awoke, it was a nightmare
It had fallen
Steel by steel
Stone by stone
Person by person
It had fallen to broken skeletal hulk
Like Rome
Like Holy Roman Empire
Like Nero.
©2001, lgjaffe
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the departure was unexpected
like a hitchcock ending to modern romance
there was no prearranged warning signal
or signs pointing this way yield to oncoming spirits
or any such things
just the ecstasy of departure
which at first glance was most painful.
some left screaming
others bewildered
still more felt that their current lives
were really not completed as of yet.
they left anyway forced departure
forced into a spirit world they had forgotten
most would simply be born again
and for those reluctant to take up the chore of a new body
they will enjoy their state...
and come back when
they are ready...
this achieved many smiles so to speak
©2001, lgjaffe
Larry Jaffe is a co-founder & host, with Donn Deedon, of the PoeticLicense reading series in Los Angeles, now in its 7th year, & wrote for the About Poetry Museletter as our Southern California correspondent.
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