9/11
in case of
in case of
in case of
this emergency
that possibility
all chances narrowed
down to zero
in the tunnels
of the city
echoing with wind & voices
& the untuned music
of bums
milling crowds of people clicking their shoes in one vast perambulation
& yet
& yet
within this well ordered
thoroughly thought out
clockwork existence
so very tangible
backups for fire & flood
neat labeled signboards
extolling the amenities of life
philosophies of cuteness
love readymade over the counter
packaged messages that demonstrate affection
ready for rush delivery
a time for waking
a time for sleeping
a time for eating
time to walk
unexpectedly through all
this motion
a fireball rolls through the sky
so remote from your middling existences
your comfortably thought out lives
that it’s impossible to imagine
(unless from the angle
of the desperate & disadvantaged
led by kay with the splinter
in his eye)
this sulfurous malediction
nameless like a wisp of smoke
yet expectant
with the seed of
metamorphosis
*kay of the Hans Andersen fairy story ‘The Snow Queen’
Ilona Yusuf is a poet, printmaker and designer. Her poems have been published in book form (Picture This, 2001) and thereafter in literary journals in Pakistan and abroad. She has also written essays on Pakistani poetry in English, and worked on editing projects, most recently as a guest editor for Canadian poetry magazine Vallum. She freelances for several magazines, writing on art and literature. She has recently begun to integrate word and image, making artist’s books. ilonayusuf.blogspot.com
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