I am not ashamed to say
that I was able to look at Ground Zero
for no more than fifteen minutes

watching tourists
take pictures of each other
with my burning friends as a backdrop

and the cops watched them too
and I do not know what they thought
but I do know everyone stopped everything

when a crane pulled a girder from the pile
and fire poured out of the hole
and a water truck sprayed it all to hell

and then they started up again
and I had to walk away
because I could smell the ruins

and it was a whole two months later
and I was not ready for how sweet
such a smell could be

like flowers in a parlor
like fruit forgotten on a porch
or candy you’ve been forced to eat

and I do not have a picture
but I always have my nose
and when I close my eyes

I am still in New York City
as my friends rise up to greet me
and they will not let me say goodbye

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