In the Cool of History

That day, those days after
in the cool of history
visible now
moments of unity, of resolve
frittered away, lost in zealotry
in actions that divided our nation

We were ready, to fight, to sacrifice
that we were not asked to do
a polarization of our nation
war and atrocities, this time by our hands
sanctioned or ignored
a war on our own,
the wrong enemy
Men, women fighting, dying
far from home

Out there still
in the hot of insurgency,
far from the cool of history,
the open hole at Ground Zero,
our soldiers, our best
out in the field in Afghanistan,
in Iraq, for how much longer?

September 12, 2008
on the aftermath to 9/11/01
and a lost opportunity for our nation

All of my poems, photographs, and videos are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 41,680+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.