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| AP Photo from The Daily Mail. |
My son calls from Ground Zero
from the place the buildings fell
the hole that stole his innocence,
the place that bored into his soul
and stayed festering, though he
never talked about it.
They never talked about it,
none of the children who graduated
from that moment of despair.
And yet he was there, celebrating,
singing with the crowd
“Na na na na, Na na na na
Hey hey hey, Goodbye.”
Oh, don’t show me the body –
Don’t gouge my eyes
With the empty sockets
Of a dead man.
We celebrate the darkness –
stand on the corner and sing
to the darkness.
Don’t ask any questions.
Should I care that my child looks cold
celebrating the death of any man?
Yes, I worry for the sanctity of his soul.
But that’s the price you pay
when you blow 3,000 people away.
Still, wouldn’t it be better to let him lie?
Wouldn’t it be better to forget his name,
let his face disappear into history,
never speak of him again until the last tear runs dry?
Come on, kids, “Kiss him Goodbye!”
Lyrics from: Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
Songwriters: Paul Leka; Gary Decarlo; Dale Frashuer
Wendy Thornton has published in The Literary Review, Poetry Quarterly, MacGuffin, Main Street Rag, Riverteeth and others. She has been an Editors’ pick 3 times in two years on Salon.com, and nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She is President of the Writers Alliance of Gainesville, in Gainesville, FL.
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