From a distance

From a distance, the Nimitz looks so small, 

But I remember watching it pass 

From a ferry, which was dwarfed by its size.

 1,092 feet long, with two nuclear reactors, 

And the sailors up on deck as it sailed by 

Waving to us like tiny ants, 

 Far above our heads… 

The farther we get from the ship — or a problem, 

The smaller it begins to seem, 

And so the millions of misplaced persons 

In the Sudan seem less critical somehow 

Than the thousands who’ve lost their homes 

In California, 

And that number raises fewer concerns 

Than the prayers that rise when those we know 

Are affected. When will — or can? — 

We ever understand 

The magnitude of these horrific disasters?