WHEN THE CITY FELL FROM THE SKY .......................................................................................LISA ALEXANDER BARON

When the City Fell From the Sky

Poem by Lisa Alexander Baron

I was standing in the town square staring up at trees spiraling down on their bulky heads and landing with their roots thrust up like errant toes or fingers from a grave.

I heard the houses bellow as they gave up, as their shoulders sagged and snagged star by star like the back of a black coat catching white lint bit by bit.

When the city fell from the sky, I covered my ears as atonal notes from that final fugue stuttered like old blood from the ripped linen bandages of the clouds.

And here, now -- even in the safety of the here-to-stay dark: the slow play and re-play of that black-and-white still, of that father's fist clenching and unclenching his son's hand before he let him go.