false dawn
in a bead of grass dew —
September 11
FYI: For more poems about 9/11, see "Special Feature: Selected Poems for Reflections on Remembrance of 9/11"
Remembrance is less a fixed record than a stencil constantly revised; each time we retrace the steps of the past, our present reflections reshape the impression left behind.
-- Chen-ou Liu
Added:
another year
another “thoughts and prayers” —
9/11, grayer
Added:
And after ...
Facing south, a sea of white empty chairs, 2,753 in all, flooded the lawn of Bryant Park, Midtown Manhattan. One for each person. Not a breath of air. This burden of hushed silence...
blinds drawn
against the light of dawn
9/11, yet not
Added:
Retracing and Reflecting
for those who have journeyed heavily across the landscape of the heart
the light of dawn
on September Twelfth
the time it takes
for leaves zigzagging
to the dust-choked ground
off the tower
one after many sped downward —
Muslim lives
and our world ripped by the day
before and forever
the footprint
of each tower that once stood
now surrounded
by four walls of water and grief
an Afghan woman's look
FYI: The dedication alludes to Melvina Young's remark:
Sadness takes its own time. It can't be hurried along. It can't be rushed. It "moves heavily across the landscape of the heart" until time and love can carry it further into the distance.
