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Subject: My reflection on 9/11
Time: 12:42:00 PM EDT
Author: aimer
Mood: Quiet
Music: Jeff Buckley--Hallelujah
I wrote this poem on 9/11, sometime that night. I had been on the telephone with my sister and she told me that her husband had commented on the need to connect that was inspiring Americans across the nation to reach out and embrace one another. He also observed how sad it was that the sense of unity wouldn't last, that far too many of us would soon return to divisive mistrust, to an antipathy towards the suffering of others, to a willingness to do violence against others, and to a selfish disregard of anyone's needs other than our own. I have shared this poem before but on this anniversary of that horrendous day, I want to share it again.
There Be Monsters
The images on the screen kick you in the guts,
...smoke and ash…smoke and ash...
Smoke rises from the oil,
onions, peppers, a little garlic
a woman in her kitchen
stirring, preparing
her eyes on the clock
always on the clock.
On the flickering screen, horror and hate,
smoke and ash...
She grips the spoon,
absorbs herself in tomatoes and basil,
listens for the footsteps, the metal on metal of key and lock.
"Did you hear...have you seen...all those people..."
her voice falls into the silence of expectation.
"A shame," he tells her, "a damn shame."
His words match her horror,
together watching smoke and ash...smoke and ash
But there is too much salt or too little,
too much basil or not enough,
always too much or too little.
She surrenders to the horror of the fist in the face,
wraps herself in smoke and ash
knowing that the monsters are always under the bed.
Sheria Reid
9/11
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well written. very thought provoking the way you have paralleled the events of 9/11 to domestic violence. how sad and horrifying what so many of our fellowman suffer on a daily basis. may God have mercy on us.
gina -
Well written Sheria! I agree...shocking horrors of the world at large yet some people deal with their own horrors daily...soo sad! An excellent way of making horror more personal...realy heart-felt...
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I thought this was a very interesting poem. I think there are many horrors that are endured. Terrorism by unseen enemies is one but the terror of a loved one is another, and maybe even harder to endure. You can understand the hatred of an unseen enemy, but the one that lives under your own roof is harder to take...
Marie
http://journals.aol.co.uk/mariealicejoan/MariesMuses/ -
A poem to make us think. We will all remember that day, I think it all affected us in diffrent ways, but we were all bought together in a common grief around the world.
I prayed last night for all who died, I hadn't prayed since that day.
Gaz x
10/6/07 5:53 PM
hugs You
Luv Jo