Repairs means closing my favorite obelisk for a year. I sure hope the pick pretty scaffolding like Clinton did.
So in honor of its cracks I present a poem.
Every city should have a Washington Monument
I find my eyes searching the skyline,
Scanning for moments from childhood,
For a ghost, a memorial towering in clouds,
Which in every city I expect to find,
Yet strike no sun-limned figure,
This pillar familiar, this tribute to humanity,
In marble rainment, blinding white,
It's vast trunk a work colossal,
Forever imprinted upon my mind,
Absent, yet still, commanding sky.
--Anika Ismel, August 16, 2010
*sigh* And now I miss my city ...
ReplyDeleteWhen we were kids, my brother and I played a game to see who could be the first to spot it as the family drove through the city. To this day I can't resist calling it, even when I'm alone. WASHINGTON MONUMENT!!