Bikeman by Thomas Flynn (a review)

2.5 out of 5: Bikeman is a personal mini-epic poem about September 11th written by Thomas Flynn, who experienced that horrible day first-hand on his bicycle near Ground Zero. Using free verse (patterned after Dante's Inferno), Flynn recounts the horrors he witnessed as well as his own near-death experience. Poetry might be the perfect medium for conveying the devastation and despair of 9/11, and Bikeman is haunting and touching in many places. However, viewed objectively, Flynn's poetry is merely adequate for its purpose. Except for a few evocative phrases (“this forever September morning,” “we did not live through it, we just did not die”), Bikeman is too simplistic to convey the depth Flynn is seeking.