Ghosts at a Utah 9/11 Memorial: Revolutionary Email Poetry

I did not see them
When I shot the video
Of thousands of flags
In a Utah field,
Each representing
a lost 9/11 victim.

But when I was editing,
They were there.
Ghosts.
Shadows dancing in and out
Of the flags.

Wives.
Fathers.
Sons.
Daughters.
Husbands.
Mothers.
First responders.

People.
Laughing.
Crying.
Holding.
Walking.
Talking.

Those who were remembering
Became they who must
be remembered.

We must be ghosts
To each other,
To haunt ourselves
into remembering,
so we never forget.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZWz2qyvelI]

Video of Flags at Sandy Utah’s “Healing Field” 9/11 Memorial

Disqualifying Over Children: Revolutionary IMprov Email Poetry

“Do you want children?” the question asked.
Over that small detail I’m taken to task?

Would I like them in her house?
Would I like them with her X-spouse?
Would I like them in her room?
Would I like them in her womb?
Would I like them here or there?
Would I like them anywhere?

Where I’d like them, I could not know!
I just try to go with the flow!
And I decry ambiguity.
At least, it seems that way to me.

For if I, to that question, say “No!”,
then women with children could turn and go,
as would women, certainly,
who were waiting, mothers-to-be.

But I’d not exclude them for that choice.
Being good partners means both have a voice.
And thus, the answer of open/uncertainty,
seems to fit, I think, the openness of me.

Thank you. I’m glad you listened;
and now my poem is at an end.

Except for this small thought before I part:
Wouldn’t you like a man whose heart,
soul, and mind
are open, generous, giving, and kind?
Who won’t disqualify before he starts?