Remembering 9/11

Though I live clear across the country from New York City, I can testify that the western side of our country was also deeply affected by this terrible event.  My sister was personally acquainted with someone who was killed in the pentagon, and there were two people from my state (Utah) who were victims in one of the airplanes.  This is for them, their families, and all Americans.

A Remembrance and A Wish

It was another day when the dawn brake

The morning greeted me in restful peace

With a knock on the door did I awake

And all my floating dreams did I release

Such peace and pure solace did not last long

When to my ears came news of great alarm

Across the country from which I belong

Our lives were changed by destruction and harm

How dreadful the view displayed before me

It looked unreal and time moved really slow

While buildings burned in explosive fury

In shock, disbelief did my mind bestow

I fled out to my yard to think things through

To avoid any electric device

But even the sky in its azure blue

Seemed also in mourning to my surprise

A cry in silence revolved in my ears

Stirring the innermost pangs in my chest

Unable at times to hold back my tears

Everywhere I went solemnity pressed

And never could I completely forget

From out of the mangled rubble I heard

Eerie beeping in New York’s silhouette

Calling from the ground as voices interred

Yet through the set darkness came something light!

‘Twas the Stars and Stripes all beaten and torn

But still intact, a miraculous sight.

A symbol of new hope to all who mourn

And as other times past the flag was raised

Reminding us that our country still stands

Upon it our weeping eyes fondly gazed

We humbled ourselves, forgot our demands

Then a large window opened before me

A vision of this beautiful nation

A wide spanned portrait of what it could be

While honoring our deceaseds’ oblation

That for a moment, we stood united

Liberty’s children, sister and brother

No longer in derision divided

Tied by our grief, we helped one another

My hope and dream for this great nation now

Minus the tragedy by which it sparked

That we will set ourselves aside somehow

That unity will again be embarked

Commentary:

Memorial located at a fire station in Provo, Utah

Written in commemoration of the ten year anniversary of 9/11.  Living on the west side of the country, there is perhaps a little disconnect with the eastern side since our cultures sometimes clash in certain things.  The east is all about being busy and climbing the ladders in any way possible while the West is a little more relaxed and slower paced (though some of the cities may pick it up a little), and perhaps in acceptable behaviors being a little more sharp and blunt that here in the West would be considered rude and inconsiderate.  Anyway, it always seemed like almost a foreign country in manner of living and distance, a place I have never visited yet have always heard of its name.  So when this particular day occurred something significant happened: the whole country connected.  Many of us saw it occur on our televisions, the second plane crash, the explosions, the buildings collapsing, not to mention seeing the names of the plane victims being scrolled across the screen and realizing that the victims were from all over the country.  I cannot describe or explain how dark that day was for everyone across the country, and being quite sensitive to moods, this particularly hit me hard.  It was a quiet day, but it was the still silence of solemnity and sorrow, and it rested upon me like a heavy mantle.  The first half of the poem is a partial description of what I witnessed that day, while the second half is what happened following.

I don't know how many people remember what immediately followed 9/11, because its spirit only lasted about six months or so and had completely disappeared after a year, but there was a unique spirit that occurred following that day.  The country found unification in its grief.  People became more neighborly and watched out for each other.  No one was fighting over petty politics, and the religious were allowed to set aside time to pray for the country without being criticized.  It was a sincere and beautiful moment and from this short moment I saw this country's potential.  I wished it could have lasted longer, but people tend to forget over time (unfortunately).  The last part of the poem was written as an expression of that impression of the post 9/11 moment that was so incredibly beautiful.