“A Little Perspective” by Helen Steadman, England

topic: 9/11 medium: TEXT

as submitted for the “9/11” Open Call

Charred flesh hung heavy in the air all year.
The corpses rolled and fell into the pit.
Were there living things underneath the dead –
sinking, stinking in mass graves? On hot pyres?
Despite the carnage, the disease was back.

I asked the press for a double page spread –
‘No chance – not with what’s happened in New York.’
(What’s happened in New York?) There were no words.
Back in the office, on screen, I witnessed
what’s happened in New York. There are no words.