Acupuncturists and Massage Therapists Working With Search and Rescue Personnel
 
Most of them cannot stop
chattering, but the firefighter,
blue eyes watering, waits
until after his massage to say,
 
I found a foot today,
put it in a bucket,
and passed it down the pile.
What do I do with that?
 
I insert needles into the ears
of another. She can’t sleep;
her rescue dog refuses to eat
because there’s no one to find.
 
A third proposes marriage, says
I’d love Miami, as I stretch his legs
and rub his back to prepare him
for another twelve hours on the pile.
 
They thank us as if we are the heroes,
we who have seen nothing
and can barely manage,
You’re welcome.

Marie-Elizabeth Mali was born and raised in NYC and is married to fellow New Yorker, Taylor Mali. She is a student in the MFA in Poetry program at Sarah Lawrence College and her work has appeared in the online journal 2River View and is forthcoming in Calyx.

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Keywords : 9/11, FDNY, Volunteer

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