Steven Minchin’s most recent poem to appear here was … This Is a Two-Man Tally Sheet (February 2014).
Can Kill Above
By Steven Minchin
yes
I take big
notice of planes
sometimes
in the backyard when there
is a screaming a pair
flying I get up
once for two
days the skies
were closed
–quiet–
right after they let go
of the biggest
noise that blue
ever had forced
on it I get up
years later and exhale
with a tension still quivering
nitro just startled over
history and terror shook
the skies again
as profound as the days
with no planes
This poem resonates with me since a Navy jet plane crashed only a few feet from my house two years ago. Although no one was killed, a lot of apartment buildings burned down and left people without homes. I still have a touch of PTSD when the jets fly over my house which is almost daily. Fear and erratic heart rate is a given when we hear the deafening sound. The writer shows great imagery and makes us feel.
Jeanette I’m so glad you appreciate my poem and am grateful for the kind words, but so sorry to hear of the reason and horrible experience you had.