...the world watched in horror as 2 planes slammed into the twin towers in manhattan and just like that, about 2700 human beings perished when the towers plummetted to the ground after burning out of control...
at the same time, in a co-ordinated attack, another plane struck the pentagon in arlington, virginia...and last but certainly not least one final plane crashed when passengers attempted to re-take the plane from the hijackers...
excluding the 19 hijackers, a confirmed 2,973 people died and another 24 remain missing as a result of these attacks...
i remember it so clearly still...i was lazing around at home in my room, flipping channels on tv after dinner when i click on CNA and caught the image of the runaway jet careening into the south (or was it the north) tower...my 1st thoughts were..."eh, what movie is this?" and then it dawned on me that it was real!!! holy sheeeet!!!
the rest of the night passed with my eyes locked to the tube and i nary slept a wink...shock...horrow...awe...unbelief...sadness...it was a night i'd never forget...
5 years only and still the war on terror rages with no end and no conclusion in sight...the real victims are the innocent that are maimed or die without knowing why...
let's all not forget the innocent and pray for an end to the cycle of violence...
this morning, i came across this anonymous poem and thought i'd share it...the words are powerful indeed!
Two thousand one, nine eleven
Three thousand plus arrive in heaven
As they pass through the gate,
Thousands more appear in wait
A bearded man with stovepipe hat
Steps forward saying, "Lets sit, lets chat"
They settle down in seats of clouds
A man named Martin shouts out proud
"I have a dream!" and once he did
The Newcomer said, "Your dream still lives."
Groups of soldiers in blue and gray
Others in khaki, and green then say
"We're from Bull Run, Yorktown, the Maine"
The Newcomer said, "You died not in vain."
From a man on sticks one could hear
"The only thing we have to fear.
The Newcomer said, "We know the rest,
Trust us sir, we've passed that test.
""Courage doesn't hide in caves
You can't bury freedom, in a grave,"
The Newcomers had heard this voice before
A distinct Yankees twang from Hyannisport shores
A silence fell within the mist
Somehow the Newcomer knew that this
Meant time had come for her to say
What was in the hearts of the five thousand plus that day
"Back on Earth, we wrote reports,
Watched our children play in sports
Worked our gardens, sang our songs
Went to church and clipped coupons
We smiled, we laughed, we cried, we fought
Unlike you, great we're not"
The tall man in the stovepipe hat
Stood and said, "Don't talk like that!
Look at your country, look and see
You died for freedom, just like me"
Then, before them all appeared a scene
Of rumbled streets and twisted beams
Death, destruction, smoke and dust
And people working just 'cause they must
Hauling ash, lifting stones,
Knee deep in hell, but not alone"
Look! Blackman, Whiteman, Brownman, Yellowman
Side by side helping their fellow man!"
So said Martin, as he watched the scene
"Even from nightmares, can be born a dream."
Down below three firemen raised
The colors high into ashen haze
The soldiers above had seen it before
On Iwo Jima back in '45
The man on sticks studied everything closely
Then shared his perceptions on what he saw mostly
"I see pain, I see tears,I see sorrow -- but I don't see fear."
"You left behind husbands and wives
Daughters and sons and so many lives
Are suffering now because of this wrong
But look very closely. You're not really gone.
All of those people, even those who've never met you
All of their lives, they'll never forget you
Don't you see what has happened?
Don't you see what you've done?
You've brought them together, together as one.
With that the man in the stovepipe hat said
"Take my hand," and from there he led
Three thousand plus heroes, Newcomers to heaven
On this day, two thousand one, nine eleven
- Author UNKNOWN
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