Dulles Airport

Hijackers drove the same lot
I've parked in a dozen times before.
Had I sat in the adjacent slot,
their doors might've dinged mine
as they fled a rental car filled
with Boeing flight manuals 
printed in Arabic.

Fanatics passed the same security checks
I've lined up for,
back when I gained comfort, confidence
that no knives, guns, bombs
would be walked aboard a plane.

Maybe they browsed the same shops,
checked the same monitors,
dined in the same booth,
peed in the same urinal
as I have.

If I ever return to that place,
I know I'll feel chills
when brushing past 
the cold, black ghosts
they left behind.

Scott Speck
09/19/2001