a matter of closure

dust & ghosts
fire & steel

the great day of tragedy
is sleeping in a
dark sarcophagus––

the story encased
in the forgiving forgetfulness
of time

what a spectacular
stroll downward into hades
for the global public

how emotionally evocative &
non-controversial
the steely tall tridents
& the maimed & crying
fire trucks––

all the material evidence
has been neatly fit
in a capacious, dust-free, underground box

like a cause trapped in a bottle
without
effect

wars, peace, freedom,
& justice are
out of the bounds of a single day
recorded in unperturbable history

it is beyond our settled &
guilt-free minds to judge
or even question what it might
all mean