"Names" by Rachel Vigier -- Reading from September 17th

Names

Suddenly it's important to know names --
the name of the waitress in the donut shop
the name of the clerk in the bookstore
the name of the teller at the bank
the name of the visitor in the elevator
the name of the guard at the door
the name of the janitor on the top floor
the names of all the old men
shuffling backgammon pieces
in the park across the street
the names of all the office workers
jostling in lines by the food carts
even the name of the park and the name
of the statue in the park covered in ash

.

(from "September 11, 2001: American Writers Respond", edited by William Heyen.
Silver Spring, MD: etruscan press, 2002.)

Rachel Vigier is a Canadian born poet who was living and working in New York City in September, 2001. She was injured on 9/11.