a city divided into entrances, exits,
by the emphasis on its seconds-
the very measure of timing.
how intersections and lights
could prevent any errant design
from interfering with life.
sidewalks, collided into
central artery veins,
inflows and outflows
sent through car, harbor, and train.
it's very much living, alive.
by the third night of the bombing
you could hardly hear a shout in the silence.
even when the pounding subsided,
and the tremors stopped with the sounds of the sirens,
I could never stop facing that split through the walls
through which a million emigrants pooled like blood