Betsy Robin Schwartz

a shadow looms

long after its light

source is extinguished

smoldering and stench

pervade a vacuum

of rubbled remains

in this perpetual dusk

all is void and ash

of vaporized souls

unrecognized debris

not fleshed carcass

echo eternal absence

sifted dust reeks of

the charred humanity

our undreamed horror

fury forced itself

onto a disbelieving

defiant structure

a helplessness more

bitter than comprehended

in our vulnerability

unable to be assimilated

in its vastness, its steamy

premeditated chasm

healing begins by

rote lifting—stone

by stone—song by

song—prayer by

prayer—hand in

hand—and yes

(I admit not

mournfully enough)

bomb by bomb