Implosion
On the late news we heard they would be imploding
an old high rise on the south side of the city.
The next morning we woke early, tired of the usual
Saturday routine, never having seen a giant
fall, but we lingered a bit over breakfast, the bacon so crisp,
the coffee sweet, lingered over the paper, couldn’t resist
at least starting the crossword, then headed out
on Lake Shore Drive, encountering traffic we hadn’t expected
at that hour on a cold winter morning, perhaps others
longing to witness sudden collapse, something monumental,
the rush of it, the stolen power, and so we crept along
in imagined solidarity, eyeing the frozen lake, a vast
whiteness, until we arrived…just a moment too late.
I saw in the distance a corner of the building, there and
then not, crumbling from sight. We drew nearer, but
all the cars were pulling away, headed home, having seen it.
Sharon Dornberg-Lee
