photo credit: Emblematic via photopin (license)
Today I watched livestream coverage of the 9/11 Tribute from New York City. My heart aches new each year in light of the historical aftermath of the tragic events that unfolded on this date fourteen years ago. What is in my heart, and on my mind in light of all, is better expressed for me in my default writing mode: poetry.
So today, I offer my words as a tribute for those who have lost loved ones, who still ache daily, and for us all in this Great Country…may these words bring hope, healing, encouragement or a sobering reminder if need be. May these offerings be accepted, and acceptable to you who read them today.
May God continue to bless us, because none of us are worthy, yet we all, with open hands, receive His grace.
Have We Forgotten?
by Dawn Paoletta
9/11/2015
The squirrel darts
across the road,
dares fate, unknowingly.
Goes about the day, escaping
death,
gathers the day’s offerings.
As we were,
as we continue to be,
we gather the days offerings-
hold them close,
for tomorrow is not promised,
nor do all squirrels survive
the ordinary day.
As we were,
as we continue to be-
A global pause,
audible gasp
heard throughout our great country-
on the morning they fell from the sky
flew into history
woke us from our slumbering safety.
Unanticipated interruption
tragedy,
catastrophe-
horror…
The day our Big
became small in an instant of
terror-
marked by those who rain hate,
pour out lies, spill the blood
of innocents…
rejoicing, jeering.
As we fall back,
absorb the blow-
freedom shrinks
momentarily… while
we pause,
catch the breath-
cannot.
A sea of faces drown
in ash,
we cup hand over mouth
spill tears, weep-
run to help
in our helplessness-
seek answers, remember unity as
we unite in pain;
Forgetting our small,
together becoming
bigger…
finding strength as we embrace
harsh reality and one another
trembling.
Yet, here now- anger, denial, lies divide-
Have we failed to remember?
Do not All Lives Matter?
That day a rainbow
of humanity
came crashing down in hot metal-
Black, White, Red, Yellow
united in dying,
targeted for that which did
unite.
Have we forgotten?
Do not All Lives Matter?
Fires rage across our land,
children fear
one another, unseen enemies
and policies unclear-
what hope have they when we shake
our heads,
point our fingers, speak hate?
What hope have they when we
fail to model respect, humility, patience?
When all the world
becomes a stage for absurdity and
sarcasm is saluted,
bravery polluted, truth convoluted?
Have we forgotten those who
ran into incineration,
stood in the Great City
long after the dust settled
picking through
identifying the remnants
of love-
out of ashes…
a Phoenix
rises.
Today,
side by side they stood,
14 years to the day,
reading the names no longer
among us,
here now…
side by side-
United…
clinging to the day’s offerings
remembering,
not to forget,
what matters.
Have we forgotten?
Do not All Lives Matter?
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Linking with dVerse for OLN.
Sep 11, 2015 @ 18:49:58
What a Perfect tribute my friend
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Sep 11, 2015 @ 21:14:34
Thank you, Suzie.
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Sep 11, 2015 @ 22:24:34
Beautifully written, Dawn! Thank you.
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Sep 12, 2015 @ 19:24:49
Very moving, Dawn! Thank you for sharing this remembrance, in the form that you are comfortable with in sharing!! I wrote in my journal – about 5 or 6 pages worth (or more??), including prayers and other things that I found on facebook, and some of my own journaling.
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Sep 12, 2015 @ 20:03:05
My gosh, Dawn…THIS is stunning!! Absolutely beautiful and perfect. It should be published. What a glorious gift you have! ❤
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Sep 12, 2015 @ 23:17:33
Yes, Dawn, that is the truth to remember…that all lives matter! A lesson we forget too easily. I also wrote the horrific events in a poem, as dialogue:
http://madhatterpoetry.com/2015/09/11/remembering-9-11-01/
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Sep 13, 2015 @ 21:04:42
Very nicely done, Dawn.
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Sep 13, 2015 @ 21:06:35
Thank you, Deedra. I appreciate you reading and taking the time to comment.
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Sep 14, 2015 @ 11:31:46
Dawn: This expresses the heart of all who viewed the fall of the buildings in 2001. We can’t forget what happened. We NEED to remember. Thank you for sharing this deeply-thought-out poem.
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Sep 17, 2015 @ 16:04:57
Dawn, i was just recommending your site to a fellow planner nut =], and was copying your URL, when I saw this. I LOVE your poem. Amazing how you and Lynn and I’m sure many found poetry a sturdy container for expression of such profound grief. I wrote a poem about 911 called “O Say Can You See America?” shortly after the disaster in September 2011. My grief was so overwhelming, I couldn’t even journal about it. Journaling on blank pages would have felt like falling into an abyss of grief. So, instead, God led me to write this poem….a smaller, more precise container–a way to express grief, but also to curtail it. I share it w/ you here, in thanksgiving for your own poetry and passionate heart.
Love
Lynn
https://kelrohlf.wordpress.com/2013/09/11/part-two-the-poem-guest-post-lynn-d-morrissey/
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Sep 17, 2015 @ 19:13:49
Hi Dawn, have you linked this poem with D’verse? I thought this was a very moving and heart felt write ~ I specially like:
we gather the days offerings-
hold them close,
for tomorrow is not promised,
and
Forgetting our small,
together becoming
bigger…
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Sep 18, 2015 @ 12:25:30
Thanks, Grace! I had such a bad day yesterday, so I went to bed early. lol. Better today – not sure if the link is open. Thanks for reading and commenting. I will check. Happy Friday!
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Sep 18, 2015 @ 14:43:19
“That day a rainbow
of humanity
came crashing down in hot metal”
An apt and powerful memorial to one of the darkest chapter of history. Peace.
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Sep 18, 2015 @ 14:52:17
THanks for reading and hosting OLN Abhra!
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Sep 18, 2015 @ 16:02:58
Thankfully, the link was still active and you could link this. No, I have not forgotten. Being in a tall government building that day just made it more intense and I still have not lost that fear as I am sure many others have not. This is a wonderful tribute and remembrance to those who died that day and a fitting tribute to those who helped and those who survived. God bless American, God bless us all.
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Sep 18, 2015 @ 18:30:08
Forgetting our small…. We must never forget! Your poem recollects so many reasons we must not!
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Sep 18, 2015 @ 20:54:07
wonderfully written
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Sep 18, 2015 @ 22:28:45
So nice to see you here, my friend. I have missed you!
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Sep 19, 2015 @ 03:08:08
Truly
ALL
ives
matter..
all colors
all sexual
orientations
and all nations
and creeds of
difference.. 911..
for me.. the best way
to remember is NOW
to Love Unconditionally
WITHOUT EXCEPTION
FOR GOD GIVE HUMAN
DIFFERENCES.. SADLY
not many heard
that message
after
this
event…
still.. and
NO.. IT IS
never given
then.. or NOW…
in politics AND OR
RELIGION.. ever..:)
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Sep 19, 2015 @ 03:48:39
So many intense and beautiful lines…..a great tribute!!!
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Sep 19, 2015 @ 18:41:24
Nicely done! Fine tribute.
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