edit in S4&5 – thanks @Mike Casetta
The End of the World
I was driving to my new internship.
Alarms were going off. I was a married lady,
married to a difficult man. I felt lucky
just to get out the door without a hassle.
I shrugged at the sirens I could scarcely hear
through my Volvo’s thick windows.
It was a hospital, a psychiatric children’s unit.
The children were gathered in the main room,
TV on, watching the planes jamming into
the towers. Then the collapse. When the first
tower crumbled, I heard myself saying What’s
happening? What is this? What’s happening?
We were 23 miles away as the crow flies.
Our son was home. I called, told him
to wake you up. We all defended your sleep,
so he hesitated, but I told him, yes, dad would
want you to wake him up. I didn’t intend
for this to be about you, but here we are.
Once the children were picked up
by their parents, I went home, picked up
our daughters, waited for word from Risa
and Peter and friends who worked in the city.
Cell phones were jammed, so it was quiet.
They had to walk home across the GW bridge.
That was the day, honey. The day I realized
– the relief! the giddy! decision made! –
that if it was the end of the world,
I could not spend my last day with you.
