It was just another day,
like many before it
but, none Since!
The sun was
shining,
fall was in the air.
Back to Work.
Back to School.
Back to Our Schedules,
Our tasks, Our own cares.
The Day still lay ahead.
Unaware,
of the horror about to commence!
The tragedy to be.
Innocence Lost.
But, at this moment
Just You, Just I.
Individuals with separate worries,
separate concerns, separate lives.
Going somewhere or nowhere
But free to decide.
What We Wanted.
What We Needed.
What We Valued.
What We Tried.
Free to Seek.
Free to Speak.
To Pursue and To Do.
To Believe and Achieve,
Our Ambitions and our Dreams.
Free to Be, You and Me!
Freedom taken for granted sometimes
but, nonetheless, ours, to exercise,
Un-denied.
Many races.
Many faces.
Many colors yet,
Unified.
America.
A nation born of these,
our many differences,
built with our hopes and our dreams.
All encompassing, expressions of the many,
woven into this indivisible bond
that takes the individual to new heights
and unites them as one, humanity!
The Human Spirit our singular nationality!
It was Late in the Eighth Hour
of the Eleventh Day
of a hitherto,
Promising September Morning.
When Terror struck the First Tower,
the North Tower,
of the World Trade Center
American Flight 11 from Boston,
hijacked and gone.
Lives shattered,
others vanquished in a breath.
My phone began ringing,
I'd been writing all morning,
lost in my own world.
Unconcerned.
"Turn on your TV," my friend said,
"a plane hit the World Trade Center!"
And even before I did so,
I just knew,
this was not an accident.
And as I, like so many others,
watched in horror and dread,
Praying "Dear God,
help these people,
let them get out."
Minutes into the Ninth Hour,
another plane,
United Flight 175 out of Boston,
struck the South Tower
and burst into flames.
The World Trade Center
Terrors first casualties.
More lives changed, taken, lost.
Later that same hour,
United Flight 93, out of New Jersey,
crashed into the Pentagon
and in the Tenth Hour,
the final crash,
America Flight 77,
out of Dulles, Washington D.C.,
into the woods of Pennsylvania.
And during all those crucial hours,
so many people, so many heroes,
so many untold stories.
The firemen, the policemen,
the medical and emergency personal,
all doing what THEY do Everyday,
risking themselves for the good
of the rest of Us.
Heroes ALL,
as were, so many Passengers
on those Flights.
And as WE not there at Ground Zero
watched, waited and prayed,
not quite believing this horror was real,
wishing We would Awaken
from this Nightmare.
Wishing We and They,
were all safe again,
safe with those We loved,
As We had been before this Eighth Hour
of this Eleventh Day in September!
We knew,
We Would Never,
Could Never, Forget
What We'd seen,
What We'd felt.
And We KNEW,
We Would Never
Be the Same Again.
In our Agony,
We found our Strength.
In our Grief,
We found our Compassion.
In our tears,
We found our humanity.
And In Our Touch,
We found, the Courage to Go On!
And from this came,
Our REUNION,
as a Nation!
Rising to this Challenge
to Our Freedom.
Facing the terror, the grief
and the Loss!
For in the end,
We are ONE Nation,
The United States Of America!
United as we have always been in this,
forgetting the differences,
We all feel, live and express freely!
Just You, Just I,
individuals, with separate lives.
Yet, United in the Red, White and Blue,
That makes all those differences Merge
into the Fabric called,
Freedom,
Our flag represents!
And as We look back Today
To Remember what is never that far away.
And to Pray for all those, Victims,
all those Heroes, The Innocent Lost,
not only from Our nation
but, the many others who too,
suffered as We did!
Let us stand with them as well,
United in this,
Our humanity,
for it is the Human Spirit
that Unites Us All
as Brothers under the skin.
And let Us as Brothers,
look to the Horizon
for the Healing we all seek,
the Hope we all need,
the Love we all yearn to find.
God Bless Us All!
©Linda
A. Copp
September 8, 2002
Visit Linda at
Sunnie Bunniezz
Counter added August 20-08
