Poet In The Rubble (of 9/11)

we misplaced a tiny voice today
I used to read him on the line
before the rubble closed him down
and I may not see his thoughts again
may not read the things he has to say
about New York and the view
from the 100th floor across Manhattan
and its statue

I haven’t always paid attention
sometimes I’ve passed him by
too busy in my head to read
the outpouring of his verse
but I knew that he was there
penning words
on a scrap of paper or on a screen
to share them with a world
where I am a neighbour and a friend
and a loser now

we misplaced another voice today
has anybody heard from Colin
beneath the rubble?

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© Frank Prem, 2001