nobody was talking about it.
As I watched T.V.
a newsplane flew over
part of New York
talking about weather
or traffic conditions
and there stood the feet
–only the feet!–
of the Statue of Liberty.
All around was ocean.
Ellis Island was gone,
the waters lapped
the top of her base
and ocean spray
spritzed her toes.
Her hand with her torch
poked lopsidedly
out of the water nearby.
In my mind this had happened
years ago. I couldn’t
remember how.
I wanted the newscaster
to shut up, to tell me
someone had a plan
to haul her up again,
make her whole,
make her stand.
———
Mary Ann Honaker is the author of It Will Happen Like This (YesNo Press, 2015). Her poems have appeared in 2 Bridges, Drunk Monkeys, Euphony, Juked, Little Patuxent Review, Off the Coast, Van Gogh’s Ear, and elsewhere. Her work has been nominated for a Pushcart prize. Mary Ann holds an MFA in creative writing from Lesley University. She currently lives in Beckley, West Virginia.
Image from the New York Public Library archives.
