I am running for the train, but going nowhere;
the engine revs, doors shut, and train departs.
I missed the train, but another drops me off
on smoke-filled streets. I cannot see or breathe,
as I search each passer's face for recognition,
"Do you know me? Do I know you? -- Where am I?"

I am exiting the train at Chambers Street,
humming happily to myself, proceding
at a confident pace -- when the sky falls,
ceiling crumbles, floor caves in!
I pull myself up and out of the abyss,
but lose my grip, and plummet downward.
Charon saves my arm a fortnight later.

The E has been rerouted -- no one gets out
at Chambers Street. Terrorists have razed
the Towers. Soldiers patrol at Fulton Street.
The inferno smolders as wind kicks up
particles -- of what? I glance back, and am
turned to salt -- which hails down on America.

Catherine Gutleber September 19, 2001
Written after visiting Ground Zero today

(c) 2001 by Catherine Gutleber

* Three nightmares which were reality immediately following 9/11.