It has been speculated that The Falling Man, a famous photograph of a man dressed in white falling headfirst to his death on September 11, was an image of an employee at Windows on the World . Although his identity has never been conclusively established, he was believed to be Jonathan Briley, an audio technician at the restaurant. Commentary at the time asked the obscene question, “Can someone who takes their own life in those circumstances be assured of grace?”
Free fall – 911
That September morning
from Windows on the World
he fell.
Stepped, flung himself
into a roaring, tearing wind,
then still.
He flew outside
old structures, old beliefs,
propelled.
A city named twice
once watched, now watching,
breath held.
A step, a choice,
from final conflagration,
that hell.
Sweet clarity
to know that no-one falls
from grace.
A flagrant act
to fly with heaven
in terror’s face.
Sharonne Price