Thursday, January 19, 2012

Every city should have a Washington Monument


The 2011 east coast earthquake did significant damage to the Washington Memorial in DC, including cracks and chipped corners. Sadness!

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

1 comment:

  1. *sigh* And now I miss my city ...

    When 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!!

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