So mindful
present in my thoughts this morning
that transfixing moment
the towers falling
our gasps, holding our breath
not believing our eyes
how fast, shattering
the billows of the smoke
the roar of hell
consuming so much
in those moments of insanity
utter destruction
changing our nation
the world on that morning
carved into our memories
never to be forgotten
September 11, 2010
September 11, 2001
=======
Every Flag
Every flag
all around our state
in the driving we did
on this special day
Every flag flying
none of the poles empty
yet every flag flying
at only half staff
None of us had to ask
why they flew this way
none of us will ever forget
what happened on this day
September 11, 2010
September 11, 2001
======================
911 – haiku – 7
Love our enemies
Jesus taught us all to love
even those we would hate
September 10, 2010
September 11, 2001
=====================
911 – haiku – 6
Can we let go, hate
forgive the enemy, all
truly love, neighbors
September 10, 2010
September 11, 2001
======================
911 – haiku – 5
Can we let go, hate
forgive the enemy, all
truly love, neighbors
September 10, 2010
September 11, 2001
=====================
911 – haiku – 4
Shock on all our faces
this couldn’t be happening here
we thought we were safe
September 10, 2010
September 11, 2001
====================
911 – haiku – 3
Our hearts remember
ache of destruction that day
when the towers fell
September 10, 2010
September 11, 2001
=================
911 – haiku – 2
We can choose our path
to hate or to love our neighbor
but God would choose love
September 9, 2010
Ezekiel 2:7
“You must speak my words to them,
whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious.”
Ezekiel 1:1-2:10
http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/reading.cgi?plan=straight&ver=NAS
Heartlight’s Straight Through Bible Study
for September 8, 2010, read September 8, 2010
=================
A Change in Circumstances
When the same reality
the drip drip drip
the slow water torture
unresolved, unchanging
when the same constitutes
a change in circumstances
not moving forward
no conclusion reached
statis itself, remaining still
inertia, entropy, eroding
changing stones, lives etched
in the passing of time alone
September 11, 2009
============================
As I woke this morning
As I woke this morning, I remembered
I remembered that day, the exact moment
when I saw the towers, innocence burning
a shower of debris. The gasps, of each new person
seeing the images, over and over
Feeling the same ache as when
I watched the Challenger
explode in the sky.
We watched, unsure
tears streaming down, helpless
Attacked on our soil, numb
I remember the air in the lounge,
the small screen too big
showing too vividly the pain
the anguish, the towers hit, falling
plumes of smoke, of flame
darkness that morning, echoing still
friends, new friends, in the room
who may have loved ones in New York
in the Pentagon, at that moment
a call on a cell phone
All transfixed, unable to move
September 11, 2008
On the anniversary of September 11, 2001
watching it my first year of law school
Franklin Pierce Law Center, Concord, NH
================
911 – haiku
The towers fell, loss
we were forever changed
the pain remains still
September 11, 2008
=======================
Before the Guard
Standing watch
A large flag, the stars and stripes
hanging heavy, sad, the sun
through the thin, worn fabric
Hanging at half-staff
before the Guard, on the strip
reminding us of the loss on this date
so recently still, a part of our collective
our shared consciousness
A day, a moment, like that day in Dallas
always to be hallowed, remembered
A weathered flag in the late afternoon
fitting sentry before the Guard
so many out there today
defending us in those dark places
in part because of this date
seven years at war, invisible enemy
But our flag flies still
to remember, resolve our a nation too
that terror would be avenged
our way of life would prevail
that our dream together
will never die
September 11, 2008
Army Guard, Loudon Road,
Concord, NH
=========
Where Will They Attack
Would that I had the crystal ball
to answer her quaking question
a day or two before the anniversary
of the attacks in her brother’s home town
To assuage her sudden fears,
casual sharing of a presidential candidate’s
positions, the flier in her lap,
to discussions of terrorists,
that they wouldn’t strike here,
in our quiet city; but in
the same kinds of places;
but “that is where my brother lives…”
“Where will they strike?”
Truth that I don’t know, that we
do not know where the next attack
will come, when it will come;
but truth too that if we change our lives,
if we fear and let that freeze us,
focus our thoughts too long there,
they have won, as surely as when
the attacks will come
Resolve to continue on
to live our lives, perhaps more humbly;
but live our lives fully
without fearing what
the madmen may do or
where they may attack
September 11, 2007 10:43AM
=====================
Friendly Fire
In war, actions can have unintended
unwanted consequences, self-inflicted wounds,
friendly fire, not just on the battlefield.
How much more true in our world
now, after the twin-towers fell to rubble
Decisions in Baghdad, in the White House
change the status, the station of America
in the eyes of the world.
Expedient choices, abandoning principle, law,
for dubious gain
Hurting us, who we profess to be,
more than our enemies ever will.
June 16, 2007 16:31
===============
Pearl Reconsidered
For so long, in my life,
unable to discern, to appreciate
the moment of shock, or anger,
of desire for revenge, for a call to duty
to vigilance, to service
not like anything in my experience,
the attack on Pearl, the Day of Infamy,
December 7, 1941 (can you hear his voice too?)
But our lives changed, and we know their pain
the anger they felt, sixty five years gone by
because we were visited by cowards in the skies
Kamikazes of another zealot, another madman
bent on surprise and attack
when the towers fell, we were pulled back
to the crackling radio and
FDR’s righteous indignation
We too knew what it felt like
and we will never forget
Too bad the enemy is no longer
a nation-state
December 8, 2006 19:40
=================
Three Years
Three Years
But like yesterday
Remembering the feelings
The steps, actions taken
As the nation awoke, realized
Vulnerabilities (resolve to follow)
Towers fell and we wept
Another innocence lost
In our time, this time
Personal and angry
Saturday, September 11, 2004 14:50
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.
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