Whispers and Dust | Teen Ink

Whispers and Dust MAG

May 2, 2008
By Anonymous

Ash chokes New York City.
Terror grips the very air.
The streets, empty and lifeless,
The buildings, like huge, foreboding silhouettes.
The silence is ominous and unnerving,
When only seconds ago,
The streets were filled with screams.
But now there are only distant sirens to break the stillness.
And now, we are nothing more than whispers and dust.

Hot snow rains from a broken sky,
The sun fights a losing battle,
The world has turned to black and white.
The rubble stands as fearsome ghosts,
As sickening reminders of what once was.
A singed half of what could have been an important document
Floats gently to the burning ground,
To die in peace.
And somewhere, far off, heavy footsteps fall,
But we are only whispers and dust.

No children play in the streets today,
People do not walk to work.
On this day the world stopped.
Death makes his presence known,
But then, he is really no different from the rest of us,
We all have a job to do.
Just, not on this day.
Suffering speaks gently to the windless morning,
Because on this day we are nothing but whispers and dust.



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This article has 15 comments.


Violets said...
on May. 22 2010 at 11:22 am
Violets, Emmett, Michigan
0 articles 0 photos 21 comments
awesome poem. really makes u think. love it!

on Apr. 26 2010 at 7:46 am
princessness_16 SILVER, Dundee, New York
5 articles 0 photos 12 comments
this is a great poem; but i think its too direct. personally, i think that if "new york city" were changed to simple, "the city" more people could relate to it, and possibly leave the reader thinking a little by taking out the line that says "on this day the world stopped"? those  are just a few suggestions. other than thta, i love it. its great and has amazing imagery. keep writing. :)

on Apr. 25 2009 at 3:18 am
hope.floats BRONZE, Sunfield, Michigan
2 articles 0 photos 12 comments
Beyond the New York City, this can be related to so many human tragedies. Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the air raids of Europe in WWII. I love it.

on Apr. 21 2009 at 8:02 pm
This poem was absolutely amazing. I loved it. It reminds me of Sept 11

bellajaris said...
on Apr. 8 2009 at 1:34 am
this was really deep..it captured the point you were trying to come across.this is for sure on of my favorite poems.

wow said...
on Jan. 14 2009 at 10:10 pm
this is my favorite poem on teenink. i'm speechless

Redemption65 said...
on Dec. 14 2008 at 4:27 pm
You are a wonderful writer. I like in this poem how you never go deeper into the whispers nor into the dust, you kept them together as they are meant to be.

Melissa91 said...
on Dec. 12 2008 at 10:20 pm
wow...the imager in this was beautiful.

I loved it.

on Nov. 25 2008 at 7:06 pm
wow. it was soooo good!!!!! teh description is impeccable. Great job!

WAgirl28 said...
on Nov. 19 2008 at 9:59 pm
Hey faith. This is a WONDERFUL poem. i have submited one of my own. Keep writing!!!

on Oct. 30 2008 at 12:46 am
I really like the repetition and the part about half a document floating to the ground, it was a very good visual.

snoopy2 said...
on Oct. 23 2008 at 9:50 pm
omg its a fully discriptive poem. I feel so touched by it. your very deep. The image shows a bit of fear ... you really matched up the whole story

Julieskip7 said...
on Oct. 12 2008 at 11:09 pm
This is a really in depth poem. It holds alot of meaning and yet you can still find some kind of light from it.

unknown said...
on Sep. 15 2008 at 1:28 am
THis is so cool the peom just pops out to me. It feels like it comes to life.

argen1918 said...
on Sep. 13 2008 at 12:01 am
Woahh total images its really deep