1) If you are traveling at 456 mph and heading straight into a
sky-scraper inside of a passenger jet full of wailing women
and children, but it's time to pray to Allah, do you:
A. Forehead the ground ignoring the screams and
the 4,000 degree flesh incinerating fire balls?
B. Pass out candy, but only to the notably deserving Muslim
children who can calm down for just a second before they are
turned into dust and fodder?
C. Day-dream of fucking 40 virgins in heaven while drinking
mead and eating honey coated dates, whilst being fanned
with a palm frond, and hand fed grapes and cherries?
D. Have a moment of self loathing clarity only to shrug your
shoulders in irony before being blown to worthless bits of
soon to be topsoil and worm food?
E. Draw a blank as you drool upon your shirt due to years
of rocking back and forth while reading 'very important'
holy scriptures about love, humanity, and enlightened
kindness towards all of God's creatures?
Author notes
Written September 12th, 2002
In a list
What did you think
Comments
1 - 20 of 20
-
nice (forgive me for saying) postmodern poem. The options set up the contradictions well, though the judgement comes through strongly. I'm off to dream about virgins now...
-
Before opening this to read, I imagined it would be quite the interesting read - as are the genre of your writes.
Can't say I'd ponder it enough to choose one of the options, but enough to wonder in general what in the hell people like that could possibly be thinking. And, being glad that I don't know at all.
Thanks for the entry. -
I'm betting it's C. Seems the only reasonable way to go.. though B was a strong contender.
I'd wish for D, but then well I can't see that happening or else said terrorist might not have been where he was.. it's quite possible that A is more plausible than one might think...
great viewpoint..
~~Lisa/whims -
D
definitely would like to think the terrorists final thoughts were self-loathing clarity. nothing else makes sense.
no rant from me. just white flag.
~travis
-
i wondered where the horus8 poem was- glad to find it.
I love the content-
m
-
Just discovered this. Envy! Wish I'd written it! Brilliant! This is a teriffic poem and I hope it gets widely published.
-
Well... obviously a point being made. I have to agree. I really don't know what they would have been thinking, either. Probably A.
-
Well, sick is OK, and this is a bit. But some of the emottions about the insanity really came out. And it sure would have been great if they had killed themselfs BEFORE they got on the planes...
-
This is a helluva write too. You are an amazing writer. (Not a perfect writer, just an amazing writer -- I don't want you to get a swelled head.) I hope you get the tooth taken care of soon. Toothaches are a bitch. As far as those Moslems on those planes, I can guarantee that every one of them changed his mind at the last minute but it was too late to turn back. My Grandfather was a guard on a dam for many years. Many people went there to jump, and he said that he could always hear them screaming for help on the way down. Every one he ever knew about did that. When death comes face to face with you, you flinch if you are still hale and healthy. I have to commend you on a great write, even if I don't think this is a poem.
Edited on Mar 27, 6:04 p.m. because 'typo'. -
what was the question again? I got lost in the comments. oh yeah, I think it would be c out of those 5 choices, but really, I probably would have been daydreaming about that before the world went crazy on one of those planes. And your choice?
-
Every time I think about 9/11, I have to wonder what those martyrs were thinking before they died. Were they certain in their mission, and their ethereal fate? Was there a flicker of doubt in their eyes, for just a moment, where they wondered what would be the consequences of their actions? This poem, written in a chilling form, reminds me of all of that. And brings the questions right back to the surface.
-
This leaves me hanging. It does make some good points. Good luck in the contest. God bless you
Rose
-
interesting...very interesting. not sure this fits the category of the contest "words of support" though.
-
c definitely c....well...they all seem like viable options. I mean, fuck...you are about to die, do whatever...
-
What's The Next Question?
'Scuze me. May I interject a comment? A mere word or two?
In reply to Cvillelisa's question - why did some actually choose a letter in reply? Answer: its easier to play the game than to sit and read the rulebook. Why think when you've got a pretty picture to look at, up top of the verse, and the pool is pretty shallow so as not to actually endanger any of the Citizens taking a refreshing dip. Oh, they could head off to the deeper centre, but movement requires effort to delve into that satirical whirlpool of raw emotion.
For the vast majority of US, 9/11 was/is a horrific television event - not quite real, too mad to be true and insane by any standards. For me, personally, this date marks a pivotal point in my life (even though I knew no one in that hell) and I began a journey that has still not finished. I pulled dreams from the inferno and decided the time is NOW - not tomorrow, not next week - NOW. Guess I was always a bit too sensitive under the layer of grime and greasy metallic skin.
Horus8 skillfully presents for us possible reactions. Some are tepid, some are frightening and some are simply gut-wrenching real. Satire in the face of madness is always best taken with a smile and side-ways glance. -
I've been thinking about this poem...so I'm back. It is a poem I hate to love. What really pisses me off and I haven't been able to move passed, is why did people actually choose a letter in their comments...I supposed I shouldn't care. And I suppose they didn't really see one of their best friend's head nearly completely burned off and then left for it to be fucked with. Sorry for the rant.
-
heart-pounding
brandon survived 9/11, barely. one of the last ones out. on a job interview - went out for smoke - he still smokes even though it is totally un pc in corporate world (another reason i'll always love him - he could give a shit about being pc.) first words i said to him "never knew fucking parliments would SAVE your life" - and he laughed. this made my heart friggin pound. -
polemical
Interesting polemic poem. Somewhat morbid and de trop. Skillfull photograph. -
c
-
C or D
C or D
not enough time to decide, you know.
Adding your comment:
1 - 20 of 20
5 old applause
