—Air France Flight 447 crashed on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 people aboard.
evening fare to paris this poem departed years ago nosed
north over rio#s dark lagoon leaving home and coming home
c c
o nexto
d d
eyes gleaned sea glimmer lungs filling with radio silence
dropped the rhythm cold in rough bump dark and disappeared
enduring glyphs drowned in grief ghostly jewelry and gold
nautical ballroom glittering glamour adorns the fuselage
c c
o we#ll beo
d d
equatorial search for these rio de janeiro to paris people
dropped invisible on the atlantic#s ocean ridge submerged
each of the two#hundred and twenty#eight climbers engulfed
no sherpas to guide the basalt peaks or summit the surface
c c
o angelso
d d
eighty#eight parameters decorate the sky of black box code
decode the eighty#eight constellations and live unheavened
examine debris spread on a flat earth black plastic world
needle and dig for worn out phrases for metaphor misfire
c c
o flying aboveo
d d
ear pressed to the sky beholder eye you#re on thick ice
drop the hot engines and the cold pitot no wind to upload
elegiac submarines glide beneath this poem image equipped
numb bodies filmed in crash position fetal monks at peace
c c
o the cityo
d d
everything is square camera in the carry on ok breathe
don#t worry this is the best time of our life all packed
explore hunt the black box for black values a b c d
never saved the data always goes down with the ship gone
c c
o of lighto
d d
eager mouth of information sits wet and waits for a tongue
dumb tombstone a smooth face with only its guts engraved
engineered eclogues man machine speak dialogue undreamed
nidus a nurtured code the hatching of speed and altitude
c c
o you meo
d d
evidence tells us nothing of passengers a final departure
denotes Putain, on va taper…C’est pas vrai!is their end
entire lives midair stories interrupted cannot be decoded
next we#ll be angels flying above the city of light you me
c c
o erroro
d d
each woman and man day and dream arrival and departure
die in error# for these lost bits of us who will be blamed