Remembering 9/11

In New York, Washington, Pennsylvania,
and outside my own window,
The sky was the bluest, crisp September blue.
I was writing something insignificant,
though it seemed important at the time.
And then came the call to turn on the news.

I stood before the screen, immobilized,
As the horror played out before my eyes,
And the towers fell.
And the tears fell.
And frantic prayer rose to the heavens.

My mother and I took a drive to the park
To escape, to breathe, to find some sense of peace
In the beauty of God’s creation.
We found others there, of the same mind.
Strangers, on any other day,
But not that day.
We were united in our sadness,
Family, in our shared grief,
We reached out to one another,
And talked, teary-eyed,
Only beginning to mourn our nation’s loss…