Orel Protopopescu

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

God in all his aliases - Yahweh, Moloch, Shiva, Allah... escaped through twisted streets in his trench coat and hard hat, and afraid to follow his mind down another black alley, through a cloud miles deep, sat down on a pile of ash that once touched the sky then vomited centuries of blood, liquid iron, melted flesh, powdered bone, splattering our blue-green world that floats in his dark void. He took a flag from his pocket, wiped his tight-lipped mouth, looked up at the shining city that still rose through the dust, a forest of glass and steel, spires swaying overhead, watched windowed eyes staring, hard, at him, and wished himself dead. Orel Protopopescu is a children's book author and published poet (Spoon River Review and others). Her most recent book, "A Thousand Peaks: Poems from China" with Siyu Liu, has been reviewed by the Washington Post, School Library Journal, Booklist, the San Francisco Chronicle, and others. Scholastic Professional Books is publishing her book on teaching poetry in grades 4-8 in 2003.

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