The Falling Man

We see you
But you don't see us
We thieve, like criminals
We steal your humanity

We take the picture
We capture your flight
Your desperate descent
Into the unknown

You had to do it
You had no choice
It was jump
Or die

You fall with grace
And for a moment we forget
The devastation
That surrounds you

You took your life
In your own hands
For that one second
Did you have so much faith

That you knew God would catch you?
Or were you so afraid
To experience the end
Up there?

You disappear from public view
We can't, We refuse
To confront the existence
Of the jumpers like yourself

Did you think as you fell?
Did you think about your wife? children?
How you never got the chance
To say goodbye

Your sister,
She talks about you
But your father,
He can't

But are they your family?
Have we got it right?
We can never know
Who you really are

But your identity
Does it really matter?
You symbolise much more
Than one individual

You are known simply
As 'the falling man'
But who are you?

And who are we
For looking at it?

I know who you are
You are the tomb
Of the unknown soldier
You stand for many.