FLT 800
I'm standing on the beach of
Long Island Sound on this
The 17th day of July.
Last night 230 people
Fell out of the sky
Not very far from here,
Out there, beyond the horizon line.
I'm a little distressed
That as a fellow human being
I was unable to feel their
Entrance into somewhere else.
I'm not talking about hearing
The sound of their screams
Or feeling the sound waves of the explosion.
I'm wondering how the feelings of
230 fellow humans,
All experiencing the terror and horror
Of watching their lives pass before them,
Could just pass me by
While I calmly walked the beach,
The waves at my feet
Thinking about my life,
My future.
How could I not possibly feel
That surge of energy?
From now on I plan to
Open the window of my soul
A little wider
And try to listen a little closer
To the feel of the Atlantic sea air.
Roy W. Backes
© 1996
Roy W. Backes - Poetry 