Catherine Faber, 'Wednesday April 19, 1995'

[duathir.livejournal.com]

Wednesday April 19, 1995

The buildings we raise, there are few who recall
How heavy they are till in pieces they fall
We searched for the living for hours, in dread
Of days yet to come when we'd search for the dead

Some died in their cars at the heart of the blast,
Some died when their windows flung daggers of glass
Some died in the rubble, in darkness, alone
Rebar and concrete their coffin and stone.

Under the jumble that lay as it fell,
We ducked in the dark and we crawled into hell
Of dust, powdered sheet rock, crushed concrete and blood
Of slime where the rain fell, and turned it to mud

Some we found hours past needing to free,
Some we found prisoned by tons of debris,
We levered them out, but the cutting was grim,
Sometimes the rubble, but sometimes the limb.

Worst were the children, so still in the rain
Blood spilled like finger paint, scarlet as pain
Like dolls they lay broken, with mud in their hair
So easy to lift, and so heavy to bear.

The killers would see, did they pause and look back
The blood of the innocent cries from their track
Hard though they run, they will find in the end
Hell cannot hide them, nor Heaven defend.

Some died in their cars at the heart of the blast,
Some died when their windows flung daggers of glass
Some died in the rubble, in darkness, alone
Rebar and concrete their coffin and stone.

by Catherine Faber

Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing, April 19, 1995)