Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Lady and the Towers

 

clip_image002

Once I saw them, standing tall

Above me, twins of cement and steel;

I at their feet, an ant doing homage

To what they were, not knowing

What they would become.

 

Then, mounting a vessel like one

Of my ancestors from distant lands

Who came for the promise

Of freedom to chase dreams,

I saw her raised arm

 

And turned round—there they were

Towering over the land of the free

And the home of the brave,

Or at least the Wall Street part;

But now resembling towers of biblical proportion.

 

I have this picture to remind me

Of the folly of wrong-headed dreams.

I have this image, even stronger,

Of two towers crumbling to dust.

 

The lady never blessed them;

Her gaze was always on the land,

Not on ego’s constructions.

Her lamp ever toward the sea,

Welcoming strangers whose sole desire is liberty.

No comments:

Post a Comment