Lakes in Wisconsin

I took that bus –
for sightseeing,
where you can see all of
New York City in two days.
I was astonished
that the route included
a stop at “Ground Zero.”
Can you really turn
emptiness into an object of desire,
how much does a ticket
to nothing cost?
In front of “Ground Zero”
everyone was silent,
as if before some
invisible graveyard.
Only one African-American woman
was still shouting:
“Look out!”
“Look out!”
even though
five years
had already passed.
I gazed at
the naked earth
hoping
to discover some ruins,
some trace
of bygone life,
but failed.
In that terrible silence
I was the only tourist
burdened by history.