*the text is in a light colour to signify all the lives lost*
I am the man
who doesn’t see any reason in getting up because I lost my wife of 7 years when she was on the 56th floor of the World Trade Center.
I was the co-pilot
who had the controls wrenched out of my hands and a cold, hard gun thrust into my back.
I am the man
who got all the way to the lobby of the second Tower when I died from blood-lose.
I was the rescue worker
who was trapped trying to get to a kid who was in the daycare center.
I am the pregnant woman
who made it out of the building and away safely only to go to the doctors to find out the baby had died from the stress my body had been in.
I was the man
looking out my window and seeing smoke rising from the Pentagon.
I am the babysitter
who was rushing to get to my employers kids, aged 9 and 7.
I was the teenage boy
in the last seat by the window in the first class section, this being the first and last time I would ever fly.
I am the girlfriend
who had to lay a single black rose over my boyfriends unoccupied grave because his body was never recovered.
I am the grandmother
running my withered hand over the name of my only grandchild, emblazoned into a brown marble stone wall at ground zero.
I was the fireman
who managed to get twenty victims to save medical attention before I succumbed to gasses the fires had produced.
I am the policewoman
who spent ten minutes talking to a distracted boss who wanted to go back to get his secretary and his daughter and did, and I never saw any of them again.
I was the son-in-law
who called his mother-in-law to say goodbye although I had never been that close, I knew my wife would want it and during that call, I made amends and died a peaceful death.
I am the guard
who was trying to get people away safely, only to wake up every night seeing the burnt bodies strewn on the just washed marble floor.
I was the child
who watched my mother and sister die in the blaze of fire, hotter than I could have ever realized.
I am the fourth kid in a family of 8
whose mother father both were in the Towers and survived and then went on to have 4 more kids.
Author notes
Dedicated to all the victims of the Terrorist Attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and flight 93 (crashed in Philidelphia)<- correct me if I am wrong
Please tell me what you think
Comments
1 - 6 of 6
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Aliceee
I remember reading this after you first wrote it! I still love it. It almost makes me, cry; so incredible.
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OMG
This is sucha powerful piece! I love it. Everytime someone has ever asked me why we are at war i remind them of that day. This was one of the sadest days our nation was put through. You put so much thought into the stories. THis was a fantasti piece. I had to fight the tears. My step-mom is reenlisting in the military. So its cloes to home. Thank you for writing this poem. You have so much talent!
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wow
Its people like you, that write poetry like this.. that remind people like me what were fighting for. Im in Iraq now, and reading poetry such as the one you wrote, makes me want to fight harder.
Great Poem.. -
wonderful. wow!
this is outstanding. i loved the perspective of this poem. i cried while reading it. i admire your ability to put such tremendous personification behind each representation. the lines & stanzas are so straight forward & honest. it is so tragic, yet it contains the hope and perseverence of the human spirit that must be present in an event of this nature. i was moved by this. i respect your commitment to this subject. awesome work. you commented on 'you know your name'. yes, it was rape & yes it happened to me. i have one, 'cold rain', that describes that incident. i appreciated you taking the time to read and comment. i look forward to reading more of you! thanks again
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thank you thank you thank you you are an angel
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awesome write
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