september 11th, 2002 5:26 a.m. pst
changing
On the one hand,
waking to the sounds of birds outside my bedroom window,
A dark cloud covers existence.
It is the eleventh of September, and at first memory is clouded with sleep.
And then memory returns.
And then remembering the pain and sorrow compounded with time's hammer
Remembering the gaping maw of humanity's naivete
When played out in my brain's tape recorder
Of those terrible events which happened just one year ago
I am saddened
And reduced to silence and introspection again
For the millionth time since that horrible day.
And on the other hand,
Looking forward to my 30 year highschool reunion this weekend
A reunion for which tentative plans had begun last year at this very same time
A reunion forgotten quickly last year in the dusty rubble of the towers
Will proceed a year hence, hopeful and humbling
A bit of happy reverie inserted into the chaotic tumble of time
One hand, a tragedy, and sadness
And on the other, elation and an elevated sense of purpose for having
survived this long looking forward for connections with the past.
That's life, the poets sing.
That's life, remembering
And death, which follows life, is sad and sorrowful, but is of course the last fact of life
And when one tries to sort the sad from the happy, and the meaning from the meaningless
It sometimes seems so difficult
But each day is another steppingstone to the ultimate truth
And someday all questions will be answered.
But in the meantime,
On the one hand,
I will grieve for humanity's losses
On the other
I will celebrate humanity's successes
A moment of silence
Listening to the song of the birds
Outside my window this morning
Link to the graphical version of this poem Link to the complete text versions of Poetry in 2002
copyright 1999-2004 by Michael F. Nyiri
ElectricPoetry
AllThingsMike
