REALITY

A pair of bloodstained yellow heels,
knocked over,
defeated.

Yellow…
such a bright color.
The epitome of
happiness, spirit, ease.
The embodiment of
laughter and joy.

Red…
the boldest,
most intense color.
The color of danger,
the color of violence,
the color of blood.

Not often
do two colors combine
to form a contrast so distinct.

Irony.
How can one associate
happiness with trauma?
spirit with bloodshed?
ease with danger?
yellow with red?

One day,
a few hours,
a couple seconds
transformed paradox
into reality.

-

HUMANITY

Boom.
A single,
sudden,
hit.
Unbearable noise,
deafening screams.

Smoke arises.
An ominous darkness
encloses the city,
surrounds the area,
suffocates thousands of
desperate lungs,
wailing for air.

Boom.
A second hit brings
daunting terror,
panic,
chaos,
calamity.

People run—
footsteps echo throughout the city.
People cry—
faces contort with fear.
People fall—
bodies collapse alongside the once glorious towers.

In the midst of it all,
there is clarity among confusion.
A firefighter’s cap
stands out,
fighting the wave of runners,
forcing a path to the source of the disaster.
Brave men,
brave women,
refuse to fall.

A world in ruins,
humanity lives on.

-

SURVIVOR

Plopped on a shelf,
hair neatly parted,
peaceful checkered dress,
newly polished shoes,
she smiled.

The world in front of her,
not yet in a state of
cataclysm.

Plopped on a shelf,
she watched,
as the world beyond the window
grew frantic.

Muffled by the glass that separated
her world from theirs,
screams pierced the atmosphere.
Blurred by the foggy glass,
their motions became quicker,
urgent almost.

Plopped on a shelf,
no longer.
Her home,
on the way to ruins.
One hundred one floors down,
she dropped.

She laid staring up,
motionless,
unblinking.
A new world.

Plopped on the pavement,
disheveled hair,
ashen gray cheeks,
soot-covered shoes,
torn orange dress.

The only constant:
her smile.