THE LAST DOVE’S FLIGHT
JASON CHRISTOPHER HACKWITH
I came upstairs to find the TV on, my mother standing there with a look on her face I had never seen before. As my foot hit the last step into the living room, the second plane hit the World Trade Center. I was then, and remain, devastated.
In the days that followed, I wrote a piece for solo cello and chamber orchestra in memory of the first responders and service personnel who gave their lives, titled "The Last Dove's Flight." I also wrote a poem with the same title. I present both once again, in memory of those we can never forget.
Some two decades later from that life-altering event, I will be publishing a collection of my poetry, song lyrics, typography and illustrations called THE RIVER BEAUTIFUL. Over the next few months, I will be highlighting poems, art, songs, apparel and more from the upcoming book release.
It is my sincere hope that you will give me the honor of coming along with me on this journey.
BLESSINGS IN CHRIST,
“The dove descending breaks the air / with flame of incandescent terror”
The last dove’s flight into the world
Was brutally ended, wings ripped from her back,
Thrown to the ground to spite her children.
As we watched, numb, stricken with grief,
Wringing our weeping hands,
The best of us tried in vain to save her;
The worst of us turned away.
She had just arisen, launched from her nest.
Her abandoned chicks, unable to rear themselves,
Wait patiently for her to return. No more.
And the world, this world that once was free—
Or was it ever?—reels, staggers drunkenly,
Soaked with blood. The blood cries out for her;
And I fear, I fear—oh how I fear
She will not fly again.
Copyright © 2001-2025 by JCH
lion of Judah, lamb of God
“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain/ To receive power and riches and wisdom,/ And strength and honor and glory and blessing!””
