The streets
weft breeze-swept sheets, texts,
letters, sentences never ended:
Beth,
Next bet, Everest! Ever been
there? They tell me extreme,
WTC-sheer. Yes! Wherever
there’s extreme, there’s me! Tell
Jeff:
See Excel sheets 20-23, rev 7.
The VP feels the new Eng’g Dept
spend needs exec check. Prep
NYSE. Then pre-Dec 3, delete
Bennett:
These extensions skew the
expected rent levels. Next term,
they’ll exceed the free expenses
precendent. Nevertheless
Helen,
When we met, speech deserted
me... Never expected the sweetness,
the perfect tenderness... Melt me,
tell me the deepest secrets... Let me
September 11.
The breeze sweeps the letters.
The letters never sent.
Short link - http://bit.ly/s4eleventh
ReplyDeleteOh dear! I like how this begins in a mysterious way- begging the reader to make sense of what they are reading then BANG - two words- September 11 - and all is understood. And we feel the emptiness of the letters incomplete and move past needing to make sense of the content of the messages. And the abruptness works as a kind of objective correlative - the individualness of each writer - contained - and even the fact that the messages don't make sense give us a corresponding sense of the senseless of the tragedy. And what brings us closer to one that reading their private messages? A great choice. A stunning way to to understand the larger picture of lives interrupted and incomplete. Powerful, my friend
ReplyDeleteSo very beautiful and moving...
ReplyDeleteWow..such a haunting sad and beautiful write Sam...deep breaths on the last lines. Incredible! ~April
ReplyDeleteI am tempted to say 'what she said' - Miriam ;-) but here instead is my reaction ..whoa! The title gives a hint, but then the cryptic messages, texts? Tweets? and I think 'once again Samuel is experimenting'..and lose connection to the eleventh. But then 'Helen' speaks in your voice as I've come to know it, and finally you bring us back to where the title leads, fragments in the wind, lives lost & incomplete. The effect is breathtaking..Innovative, modern, excellent! Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeletewow. tight write...i was in the air on sept 11th...emergency put down in altanta...it was a crazy day...like the structure in this one...and carries quite the punch in the end...
ReplyDeleteoh my - i was wondering where this would go...9/11...excellent...gave me shivers...
ReplyDeleteTransitory and ephemeral the doings of man...and you make the point cleanly, gracefully and tragically here.
ReplyDeleteAs always, Sam, you manage to transcend the mundane and create Art from emotions and letters. Awesome One-shot!
ReplyDeleteVery well done...I had to read it twice, after I understood where you were taking us. Haunting.
ReplyDeleteI read it the first time for the oblique and brief characterization, the second time fir the embedded love story and it's effect among the strangers, and finally for the finality of the whole and the ring of profound with 9/11 reference. For me the love letter shock after the objectivity of the other verses outweighed the 9/11 surprise, live surprising me more than death, and death merely revising the surprise. lightening in your touch to the scrambling words ! Lovely
ReplyDeleteIts amazing take on the 911 I have ever read.. its so poignant.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing...
ॐ नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
http://shadowdancingwithmind.blogspot.com
Twitter: @VerseEveryDay
When I reached the last three lines I froze..and then immediately went back and read more slowly. This is brilliant Sam.
ReplyDeleteI had not read this one before. I could picture you walking through the debris. Embers flying all around. You reaching out with your hand to catch those half-burned memories. A unique tribute, Samuel.
ReplyDeleteAlways.
Realization hits like a Mack Truck at the very end. Very haunting. How many if our own messages are (or will) end up like one if these?
ReplyDelete