Remembering 9/11: A Poetic Tribute
Like so many Americans, I remember exactly where I stood on that fateful September morning that we now remember as 911. It was stunning, shocking and scary lumped into one emotion that rocked a nation and the world.
The Morning that Changed America
One of my husband’s business partners had called him about 7:10 am and asked if he had heard the news. Immediately, we turned on the TV and watched with horror as planes crashed into the Twin Towers of New York City. Unfortunately, it did not stop there. The day was filled with breaking news that also broke our hearts and cemented that day in our memory forever.
Even as the news unfolded, life demanded small acts of normalcy. I made breakfast and told my son to get ready for school. Driving down Wilson Pike, we scanned the sky to see a long line of planes waiting for clearance to land as news broke that a directive had been made to “ground all planes”. It was an eerie feeling that lingered long after the day was gone. It was an unsettling sensation of fear like something that we had never experienced before.
The Day that Changed America
As the hours ticked by, rescue efforts were made, but many lives had been shattered forever. Then, the days of clean-up, the white fog that clogged the lungs of so many and the sad stories that filled the evening news. A somber, but resolute address by President George W. Bush on the evening of 911 reminded me that everything had changed in my beautiful homeland. Click here to read the entire text of President George W. Bush’s speech on September 11, 2001.
Honoring the Heroes of 9/11
We Honor & Remember
I wrote the following poem long after the dust had settled, but the memory of that day still lingered in the chambers of memory. I want to honor each one that valiantly gave their time, effort and life to save others. The first responders that worked tirelessly for days and months in selfless ways to help their fellow neighbor…my highest salute to each one. We remember the 2,977 people who lost their lives at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Their names and their legacy will never be forgotten. You may go here to see the full list of those that lost their lives.
As you read this poem say a prayer for our beautiful homeland. Pray for God’s protection, grace and mercy to hover over our land and her people.
Some memories do not fade; they settle into the quiet chambers of the soul and wait to be spoken…so it is with this poem.
Tale of Tragedy
Veiled in blue, the morning clocked
A hatred. From a cockpit it raged, bent
On destruction. Jets mounted the air
And roared across office floors. Flames
Pelted the air when the explosion came.
Fading white, the Big Apple descended
Into its darkest night.
A world looked on with somber eye
And watched as bodies thumped the
Roof where a priest stood in disbelief
as carnage crowded around him.
Stilled in silence, he bowed in prayer.
Lady Liberty wept as towers crumbled
In her streets like wilted heaps.
A snapshot bolted free from a wallet.
Vowed to each other in love and death,
It drifted lonely through the air like a lost
Lover in search of pieces of a broken heart.
A body plunders through space as faces
Bleached with debris look on in dismay.
A Manhattan tie, crisp and new snaps as
The wind wheels it away. Somewhere,
A bride hears death knock at her door.
Her world collapses like a thousand others
Would, and bleeds questions that had no
Answers for a web of anger that no
one understood.
The tale of tragedy rivets the world.
Flags hover at half mast, the beacon
Of freedom dimmed but not denied.
Finally, Ole Glory rises above the
Rubble on that fateful September day,
And seals the shadows to live forever
In haunted chambers of memory.
Twenty-five years later, the ache remains, but so does the resilience. May we never forget the lives lost, the bravery shown, and the unity that rose from the ashes.