september will forever bring to mind 9/11 … i’ve written some free-verse monologues by imagined characters who died in the tragedy … one of the most outlandish recent conspiracy theories in a world obsessed by them is the idea that the attacks were planned by the israelis and jewish people were warned not to go near the towers that day …
oy!
i never got the memo
you know the one
some muslims say
was secretly distributed
to jews
so they wouldn’t go to work that day
according to the rumor
which spread the web
like a fast-mutating tumor
four thousand of my people
called in sick
on nine-eleven
and none of them
could leaven such important news
through some conveyor
or another
parent
rabbi
friend
or brother
so that it got to me?
what was i?
chopped liver?
never got a memo
no one called
beeped
or sent me mail
not by “e”
not by snail
which did cause me to wonder
had i somehow failed the test
my life-long quest
to be a good and decent jew?
now i ask you?
we kept kosher
observed the sabbath
why did not
some yenta blabbeth
this conspiracy to me?
or come to think of it
to all the other office-workers
of my tribe
with whom i languish here?
i fear i’ll never understand
the logic of this supposition
the rendition of events
which says the tragedy
was planned by israel
so that america would punish
palestinians
and others of their faith
good thinking!
such a plan!
attack your greatest ally
staunchest friend
put an end to thousands
of her citizens
trick young sauds
to carry out your scheme
and their demise
(or were they mossad agents
in disguise?)
get osama’s mamma
to convince him
he deserves to take the credit
and don’t forget
that all important memo
to the kin of those who moses led
“tuesday we should stay in bed”
oy!
and oy again!
the brilliance of such thinking
sets me all aquiver
but still i ask
was i chopped liver?