Too Much Pain

Thousands perished.

Innocence was upended.

Six blocks away,

Many stayed in their apartments.

Many watched the government panic.

His eyes were fixed in a stare.

Astonishment teared

His reflection in the window,

Rapidly became more like a twice canceled stamp

Than the features of a junior executive

Having called in sick that day.

He lived well,

Even as he witnessed life as awful.

There were so many sirens,

So much smoke,

Toxic suffocation,

So many on the street running,

Ghost-like in shades of white, yellow, brown

And red dust.

Ground zero,

Like an anthill ignited with kerosene,

Became unimaginable pain with a flick of religious insanity.

History licked the bloody corners of its muzzle

Once again pried loose by evil’s power.

Television channels

Tirelessly produced layers of

Too much red,

Too much pink,

Too much of a sunny day’s demise.