The tragedy of 11 September 2001 has always held a place of respect in my mind, both personally and artistically. When I made my first forays into poetry, I began searching for ways to connect to the terrorist attacks with my writing. Nothing I have tried until recently, however, held my satisfaction for very long.
Then last winter semester, I was looking through the photos in my American Literature textbook when I saw the following picture.
World Trade Center Burning, Peter Morgan, September 11, 2001
I had only recently learned the art of ekphrasis, or poetry to describe works of art or photographs. This picture brought to mind the phrase "Lightning-Struck Tower" from the sixth Harry Potter book. I took a piece of paper and made that phrase the first line. Then I began to play with the other words that this image brought to mind.
Lighting-struck tower,
fuming volcano with a perched antenna –
streaks a blue canvas,
shadow on shadow –
pores effusing darkness
and unreal pain –
The sky
holds trembling and still, music
waits to be played:
the song that numbs
pain when everyone and everything
gets hurt;
Shades of sorrow
turned over for light –
worn closer to the heart?
Admittedly, I had little use for ekphrasis, but as it turned out, the only way I could connect to a tragedy with words was through a picture. I had tried everything else: simple rhyming poems, sonnets, songs, but ekphrasis with a free verse, airy structure and Emily Dickenson-style dashes finally put into words what I had been trying for so many years to express.
