Community Corner
9/11 And The Aftermath Through Poetry
Creve Coeur Patch reader Barb Poposky shares the second of four poems written in the days and months after the terrorist attacks.
have been looking at the ways our nation has been touched by the 9/11 attacks and the decade which has followed.
We've asked you to share your thoughts and perspective. Creve Coeur Patch reader Barb Poposky sent us a series of poems she wrote in the aftermath of that tragic day.
In an email to Patch, she described the second one, written in October 2001:
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"Everything normal & routine was thrown off course when the first plane hit... But then America responded in ways the terroists didn't count on..."
The Day
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The Day awoke, just like any other.
Men and women pulled from slumber;
By jangling bells and beeping alarms;
By gentle sunshine and trilling birds.
The Day awoke, just like any other.
The Day prepared, just like any other.
Showers steaming, electric razors whirring;
Strong scalding coffee to get'cha moving;
The bedtime protestors begging for 'just 5 more minutes, Mom."
The Day prepared, just like any other.
The Day commuted, just like any other.
Last-minute checking of clothes, faces, teeth, hair;
Grabbing the purses and briefcases, milk money and lunches;
Ferryboats, taxis, busses, subways, trains: multiple choice.
The Day commuted, just like any other.
The Day employed, just like any other.
Slamming lids of book-laden desks, pledging allegiance to the flag;
Crinkling inky newspapers, separating colors and delicates and whites;
Chatting at the water cooler about last night's game.
The Day employed, just like any other.
The Day sidetracked, unlike any other.
Breaking the mold of the well-established patterns;
Fiendish plans betraying the everyday hustle and bustle;
Horrifying crashing collapsing dying fleeing screaming.
The Day sidetracked, unlike any other.
The Day resolved, unlike any other.
By terror attacking, Americans uniting, standing firm;
Embracing in sorrow, recognizing heroes above and beyond the call of duty;
Patriotism waving, dispelling fear in strength of purpose.
The Day resolved, unlike any other.
The Day remembered, again and again and again.
Striking America's homeland in the heart of the Big Apple;
Converting quiet Pensylvania farmland into hallowed ground;
Fortifying the Pentagon, base camp of national soldiering.
The Day remembered, again and again and again.
The Day awoke.
The Day prepared.
The Day commuted.
The Day employed.
The Day sidetracked.
The Day resolved.
The Day remembered.
The Day was attacked, and it held together.
If the plan was to tear the Day apart,
To drive the Day to its knees
In the chaotic night of fear and turmoil and devastation,
Then the plan failed.
The Day survived.
The Day is strong.
The Day is united.
The Day is America.
--- Barb Poposky ---
---October 2001 ---
We will share the remaining poems Sunday on Creve Coeur Patch
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