Salvage, written in the days immediately after 9/11/2001

SALVAGE

by Wendy Blakeley, an 81-year-old Clayton resident
Written on September 14, 2001

Under flags and lights and smoke
In helmets and gloves and boots
One bucket at a time

Salvage
Called search and rescue
Digging for our buried innocents and ignorance

Today I washed my collected
bones and seashells

Blew dust off my feathers
Ran water over my baskets and
washed away two years’ grey dust

I took a rag and washed my floor
No bucket
Just trips to the tap
Back and forth
Up and down
Wanting the water
Rinsing the dirt
Wringing the rag
Wood polished with lemon and walnut oil

I bought 2 plants and brought them
to my room

Acts of penance
Defiant control over my small beautiful
self -styled little world

I went to the salvage yard
Walked in the sun
Hoping to find a treasure
In peeling paint and rust
All neatly organized by type

East, they search and find no treasures to give them courage
Still the people cheer them, our volunteer heroes.
Flags still fly; rain pours
Dogs and men and monster machines
Dig to salvage                       Our Dreams