9-11

This is a piece I am working on to be shown with an artwork in September this year at my next Solo Art Exhibition. The date of the opening happens to fall on September 11th - I think it wrong not to do something for the show that at least touches upon th

The twin towers fell

that day in September

a few months after I had

visited New York to see

a gallery that wanted

to show my artwork.

 

I had been there-

walked nearby

with a tremble in my step

from the beauty and excitement

of the entirity of this miraculous

cultural city.

 

Then, a few months later-

my young infant son in my arms

I saw on the television

the beginning of what

would prove to be the most

horrific undertaking

I could possibly witness against

my countrymen in my lifetime.

 

I could not bear to watch it-

crawled into bed and hid

under the covers for days-

refusing to acknowledge the details,

the story, the idiocy of it all, the maliciousness

as it unfolded.

 

Thankfully, my father came to stay-

he sat in front of the television

mesmerized and incensed

at the devastation and indecency

while I simply slept through it

not able to handle the ugliness

that burned for days in the streets

of NYC.

 

Today, I give to you

another art show

on the same day that this awful

occurence took place-

I have struggled to make a work

in honor of those that a year later

I could manage to watch.

 

You see, the aftermath a year later

was televised and surmised-

only then could I bring myself to watch

and discover not only the innocent victims

who kissed their wives, husbands, children,

significant others that morning for the last time

unbeknowngst to them but also I found

the lives of so many firefighters and

rescue workers were lost on that infamous,

blasphemous day in that beautiful city

of life and love.

 

I struggle to work on a piece of art

that may give credence to that disaster

that might have been avoided in so many ways-

yet it happened and on this day, I pray, as I hope

you will with me

that no such thing every occurs again.

 

That there is an end to violence,

terrorism, indecency and idiocy in our world.

 

That we may enjoy the beauty that is here

everyday that so often we pass by

on our ways to our jobs

without ever noticing the

scent of a flower,

the look in your other's eyes as they gaze

upon you in the morning,

the smile and laugh of a child.

 

Today, remember, those that fell in order

to save others as well.

 

Heroes, innocents- we shall prevail

with the hearts and minds of Love everafter.

 

May these words and this work,

move you to recall the joy of those that were lost that fateful day in September, 2001.

 

Blessings.

 

 

Reviews

[Alaska Frost]

I remember waking up that day and while eating my breakfast, watching it on the television...I was so young and didn't really understand what was happening....
I think this is a very well-written tribute to the tragedy of 9/11...We remember the innocent who died that day and honor them.
I agree with the two other reviewers....you are a blessed soul!!!
Good luck at your art show!!

-Alaska Frost

[sherwin]

I would like to see the artwork that went with it. Nice work.

[Alicia Schroeder]

This is absalutley beautiful.. My parents anniversary and my littl brothers birthday is(9-11) that day.. We morn for the innocent ppl who were lost, but we have to remember to be happy with what we still have.

[R J Askew]

Great stuff Siddartha. I think your instinct to write this is true and I think your poem will trigger many others' recollections of how they felt on that bad day...and I think they will be grateful to you for it. Perhaps poets give others a rallying ground to share and understand their own feelings, a healing place perhaps.

[Pax Analog]

A deeply moving tribute to courage, and elegy to the innocent, which could have been any one of us that awful day.

Knowing that you intend this poem to accompany an artwork exhibition gives it all the more gravitas, monumentality.

May the causes of terrorism, from pseudo-religious and militarist fringes, to corporatist State policy-makers, be uprooted from the hearts and minds of human beings.

The gracious dignity of this piece is much appreciated.

[deeps]

I remember that day so well, it was the saddest day i have ever seen in America.
I can feel your heart and soul pour out in this.

[Dan Bullock]

I think it works, on different levels. On reflection but also, definitely, in honour.

I've been watching through all the documentaries and films in the past few weeks, not to re-live those horrific moments but to learn and respond. I think the conspiracy theorists actually now take away from the people who lived, literally, through it and it definitely haunts the memory of thousands and millions still.

The most important part to remember is the lives of the people who perished that fateful day and I think your writing, here, reflects that subtly yet honestly, that's so important.

[The Rock And Roll Cowbo..]

I remember that day so clearly... what a wonderful piece to show your emotions surrounding that tragedy... i agree you are a blessed soul and a gift to this great nation.

[~Mariposa Una Lila~]

You posess the most beautiful soul! Thank you for this wonderful poem..You are a tribute to your own country! Very well written and expressed! x0x0x0