At Play, on Fire by George Held

We gathered in Zuccotti Park to play

at protest, dressed in motley and Commedia

Dell’arte masks – agents provocateurs

to the cops, Big Macs to the tourists,

hors d’oeuvres to the press –

Our stage a few blocks from the Big

Lebowski, where the towers fell and a new

skyscraper aims at another azure sky,

at being the tallest in North America,

at least for a while.

The new tower’s steel cladding reflects

the fire of the sun and reveals the fire

of burning buildings while fever for change

fires our brains in a world at play,

a world on fire.

Author bio: 

Continually dismayed by the failure of our politics, both at home and abroad, George Held finds refuge in foolishly trying to bring temporary order to ceaseless chaos by (don't laugh) writing poems.