Sunday, February 05, 2012 Login
September 11th Tragedy

On September 11, 2001 our world changed. The horror of this senseless attack is truly global in scale, with consequences we can't bear to imagine. This terrible evil has also touched our hearts in a deeply personal way. We stare in disbelief knowing someone's father, mother, son, daughter, husband, or wife will not return home. We cry. We shake with rage. We feel helpless to understand this profanity. What monsters could do this?

 

Suddenly it doesn't matter what we do for a living or our next vacation. We know instinctively that all nationalities, races, and religions must unite together to stop... stop this insanity.

 

We are joined together to find some measure of healing, courage, and clearer vision. Together, we extend our deepest and most profound sympathy to the families and friends of victims of this horrible tragedy.

 

We Must Think Anew

"The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country."

— Abraham Lincoln

 


Date: September 11, 2001
Source: Marty Lederhandler/AP Photo
Comment: People in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral look down Fifth Avenue toward the imploding towers.

 

Mary Ortele of Brooklyn holds a picture of herself with her missing husband, Peter, as she is hugged by her mother at the 69th Regiment Armory in New York Saturday. Ortele's husband has been missing since Tuesday's terrorist attack.
Date: September 15, 2001
Source: Matt Moyer/AP Photo
Comment: Mary Ortele of Brooklyn holds a picture of herself with her missing husband, Peter, as she is hugged by her mother at the 69th Regiment Armory in New York Saturday. Ortele's husband has been missing since Tuesday's terrorist attack.

 

New Yorkers at Friday's vigil at Union Square Park.
Date: September 15, 2001
Source: AP Photo
Comment: New Yorkers at Friday's vigil at Union Square Park.

 

Boys adjust a poster at the New York armory where families come to speak with officials about identifying their loved ones, dead or alive.
Date: September 16, 2001
Source: AP Photo
Comment: Boys adjust a poster at the New York armory where families come to speak with officials about identifying their loved ones, dead or alive.

 

Jordanians attend a remembrance service at Amman Citadel to show solidarity with the terrorism victims and their families.
Date: September 17, 2001
Source: AP Photo
Comment: Jordanians attend a remembrance service at Amman Citadel to show solidarity with the terrorism victims and their families. More than 10,000 people have paid their respects at the U.S. Embassy in Amman. "We feel with you, and we are deeply pained by your loss," a 14-year-old boy told the U.S. ambassador.

 

Fireman pays final respects to the Rev. Mychal Judge, the Franciscan priest killed by falling debris while administering last rites to a fireman at the World Trade Center.
Date: September 29, 2001
Source: Stan Honda/Agence France-Presse
Comment: Female Fire Captain pays final respects to the Rev. Mychal Judge, the Franciscan priest killed in the lobby of Tower 1 during the collapse of Tower 2.

 

Fans wave flags during the National Anthem at the start of the New York Mets game against the Atlanta Braves.
Date: September 21, 2001
Source: AP Photo
Comment: Fans wave flags during the National Anthem at the start of the New York Mets game against the Atlanta Braves.

 

A Fireman's Duty
by Rebecca Delay

A Fireman's Duty,
Is to be there when someone's life is in danger.
A Fireman's Duty,
Is to go in that burning building when
no one else will.
He is to cherish and respect what he does.
He is to think before he reacts.
A Fireman's Duty,
Is to put that fire out so it doesn't
cause another family to cry.
A Fireman's Duty is to care and to
understand.
A Fireman's Duty,
Is to come home to a job well done.

 

The Day I Saw My Lady Cry
by Michael Mack

 

She stood there with her torch held high
To watch planes falling from the sky
As silver bullets ripped apart
The center of her loving heart
With disregard for sanity
In senseless act of lunacy
She saw her children fall and die
The day I saw my lady cry.

 

I LIFT MY LAMP … so reads her plaque
Just miles from terrorist attack
Her open doors now violated
By pure evil orchestrated
Hounds of Hell have been released
And Good must rise to kill the Beast.
I saw her head droop, shaking "Why?"
The day I saw my lady cry.

 

Her tears will bring on bitter rain
Unleashing winds of hurricane
To circle globe in whirlwind force
Uncover evil at its source
Then seek exacting recompense
From those who prey on innocents.
They'll not forget, as time goes by,
The day they made my lady cry.

 

Together
by Vicky L. Raynes

 

together
in prayer
hand in hand
hearts held safely
in comfort's gentle embrace
in this moment...we become one
undivided...unconquered
God WILL bless America
and we shall overcome
together

 

Selected poems from Passions in Poetry