Author Information
Building Burned Eternal
There were forays to clatter in,
and break down every wall.
But the windows that were shattered had
belched inward all the smog.
And everything went hazy then,
as our breath was taken clean;
we hit the ground and skittered toward
the nearest, brightest thing.
The rooms and halls all waited as
we came with stomping heels,
choosing times to give and fall
as the walls about us peeled.
We fell and clung and tumbled like
a head that faced the axe,
lost in blaze and locked at wrist,
with most of us intact.
Beams were falling on the rise
and breaking rafters, railings;
some of us escaped through glass,
and others through the landing.
A few we mourn were lost to burn,
too weak to speak or scatter.
Many carried, others tarried,
many fell that mattered.
And the building burned eternal,
no matter what of men,
the clouds and sun or bitter rain
could use to drown its breadth.
It never fell and never ceased,
a beacon in defiance.
Eventually its luster eased,
and was ignored to roar in silence.
