How much is the memory of a loved one worth?
Can we still remember their voices and laughter?
The following is my written contribution to commemorate 10 years of strength of the American people!
We shall not waver!
Alarm punctures the silence and misty eyes open,
Faces freshened and attires crisply ironed.
Goodbye kisses exchanged with loved ones;
Dinner plans for later all planned and done.
It was the morning like any other;
High heels and business shoes hustle,
Hands clutching briefcases and coffee,
Decaf, latte, grande or venti…
‘Hold that door please?…’ a woman implores,
As she hurries her frame through the lift doors.
It takes a while to wait when you miss a lift;
servicing over 100 floors of the WTC.
An explosion interrupts the business meeting,
The building shakes as if a giant is stirring,
Cries and wails, flames and live wires all around,
Before we can come to grips; there is another sound!
Bodies shoving, screams piercing, panic rising,
Everyone’s rushing to the nearest exit;
Stairwells disjointed and twisted beyond recognition;
There’s no way we can get out of this predicament.
Fumes thicken, air scarcer and colleagues gasping;
Fingers glued to their phones, blood dripping and texting;
‘Honey I love you; I want you to know’;
‘Please kiss the kids for me, I have to go’.
People hugging, tears flowing, exasperated faces stare blankly,
We can hear sirens and horns blaring.
There are bodies everywhere, hopes are fading,
Some stand at the edge, I see bodies falling.
I feel the ground moving, the end is near,
We fall like a stack of cards, soon there will be no more fears.
Clouds of smoke and dust pursue the people on the streets,
Armageddon in New York, this is it!
My father, the firefighter; My brother the police officer,
My husband who could not come home for dinner;
My sister trapped alone in the dark stairwell,
Her best friend killed when the ceilings fell.
This is not a holy war,
For God was weeping when he saw the towers fall.
Surely one could not enter Martyrdom,
For no religion teaches you to kill to gain salvation.
We are the people of the United States,
Republicans or Democrats come what may,
Adversity may bring us to our knees, we may stumble;
But we will rise up again, we shall not waver!