The Falling Man Poem by johannes lewinsky

One man immortalised 9/11
By catastrophe captured
In suspension between
Being and not-being
One man waiting
an eternity not to be
one man who
Refused to wait, refused
To be the victim
Huddled in a corner
Or engulfed
And leapt- or fell (we'll never know)
Did he but know it
Into history

They've equated him
With the lone soldier -
the one who justifies
The non-existence
Ofall the others

A mother talks about her son the one
It might have been and how
He was always moving
And loving and giving
As if that explained
The bravura of
What might have been
His final act

She exudes a calm
Unnatural dignity
That persuades one
This could have been
The origin of just
such an act

An act of defiance
In the face of absurdity
An idiotic act designed
to compliment
A senseless destiny

No great plan
No beginning no ending
Just a succession
Of beginnings and endings
Until one man
Called a halt
And embalmed with his camera
That final hour
That final act