9/11/01
loss of lives
loss of innocence
act of terror
makes no sense
nothing like this before
nothing will keep us down
the skyline might change
but our spirit remains
continue to have faith in humanity
through the rubble of this disaster
our spirits are strong
our sorrow great
so very far from normal
hard to imagine
the unthinkable, delicate task
at an unbelievable scene
ordinary people doing extraordinary things
shame on the sound bites
shame on titles
“Day Of Destruction”
“Attack On America”
“America’s New War”
We don’t need sappy music behind tortured commentaries
nor Media’s logos
informing of the magnitude of our reality
We must go on
We must go on
when terror rearranges our lives
the faces and voices of those we’ve lost
shouldn’t be lost in vain
We can not succumb to the evil we deplore
9/13/01
My heart grieves for the world. I made an eerie trip
through Manhattan, smoke stains the air, my lungs fight with my
mind. A tow truck has “Revenge’ written on it’s windshield. Grand
Central station is evacuated, too many cars block a convoy of
trucks and police cars bringing aid, food and help. I weave through
the city streets, numb and voyeuristically curious about my fellow
New Yorkers. I strain to see a skyline forever changed, I flinch,
and blink the truth too real to ignore. Union Square and the Piers
along the Hudson are full of satellite dishes, reporters, circling
panicked family members posting hundreds of flyers revealing names
and physical details of lost but not found ones.Even before the
smoke clears angels voices fill our ears rising up from the ashes a
river of tears the wheel is in motion how will it turn? freedom for
all nations United for peace God Bless America?
God Bless EVERYONE!
9/17/01
Red Cross flyer given out to Wall Street workers returning to
Stock
Exchange:
“Remember you’re still free, and there’s beauty in the
world.”
NY Post and Daily News include posters of Bin Laden, Wanted Dead Or
Alive. shame , shame, shame..........Has the tragedy not given us
enough loss. By inflaming the situation with such insensitive
propaganda, we are only asking for more. The rest of the world is
watching, waiting for us to make such an adolescent mistake. I
realize tragedy makes people do unthinkable things, but our
President should be ashamed. We must be calm and not have such a
trigger happy cry for vengeance.
Why wasn’t the Statue of Liberty a target? Because this was not an
attack against our freedom, as some have suggested, but a direct
attack on our World Trade, our capitalistic values that have
created an imbalanced world, of rich getting richer and poor
getting poorer. It was a direct attack against our military, by
hitting the heart of our Pentagon’s war room. We need to start
asking why questions, and to help us all understand the true nature
of our countries interests throughout the world. It is time for our
own truth and reconciliation. It’s time to move forward, accept the
past and change the way in which we as a nation will truly fight
for freedom and democracy throughout the world.
9/19/01
Re-entering the violated city
with apprehension
will we ever feel the same?
no matter how much we want to get on with our lives
now victims of a crime
sacrificial lambs
before an unknown God.
--------------------------
waiting for another blow
jumpy nervous energy
lost for words
then overflowing with them
too much, turn off, tune out
no wait
I’m not finished
listening
turn back in, tune on
What’s next, when is it next, where,
Who’s next
--------------------------
war is terrorism
we have a monstrous military establishment already.
Missile defense would not have stopped this event
With our history of slavery, we recently backed out of a Conference
in Africa on Racism.
With our history on environmental damage,
we walked away from the Kyoto agreement on global warming
what will we walk away from next?
--------------------------
We are Broken
Broken can mend
pieces discarded
tiny pieces all about
gathering with care
glue of our spirit
reconstructing our mass
We are Broken
Broken can mend
pieces finding each other
imperfect yet sufficient fit
small veins that light attracts
we are Broken
whole again? time will tell
we are Broken
Broken can mend
Every morning a new day
a new promise and hope
innocence lost, wisdom gained
going on despite the ache
picking up feet
nothing left, no more to break
Free Will, this too at stake?
We are Broken
Broken can mend
we will begin again
impossibly true
we always do
--------------------------
9/21/01
America a land of many lands
hard to stand up under one flag
time to put our image of a true American aside
hand in hand with pride our united race
the image a human face
one flag, one world
--------------------------
9/24/01
Shame on Italian prime minister Silvio
Berlusconi for stating “Our
civilization is superior to Islam.”
--------------------------
9/30/01
I don’t need more than life itself
as a reason to live, although
honestly right now
I’m on high alert, as to how I feel
on what I see
on what’s to be
of a world we have known
who’s superpower of righteousness
has helped harvest the fruit from
what we didn’t know
The seed we nurtured
in our universities, and matured
in our banks
to profit from a vision
we didn’t care to see
or dare to reveal
As long as the profit outweighed the risk....
time to equal things
Poppies, Bananas and Steel
a chess game of moves and checkmates
of subtle movements of pawns and Kings
G8? why not include all countries
why not resist the temptation
to harbor corrupt people, corrupt countries
and their dirty money, billions of very dirty money
why allow the existence of off-shore corporations
and numbered bank accounts
protected by governments for people
who profit from secrecy
and exclusion from laws believed
not meant for themselves
Why create factories in third world countries
to satiate our appetites for fashion, plastic, and
telecommunications
The playing field must be leveled
to include all
The rules of the game must change
the by-products too
We could stop tons of shipments of heroin
flooding into our veins
so too the arms we manufacture
for war games
I refuse to buy Ci-pro and other antibiotics that
profit pharmaceutical companies
preying on our fears of bio-chemical attacks
nor to buy a gas mask,
buying into a comfort zone of fear as acceptance
of this new life, now the norm.
Invest in reuniting our neighborhoods
of relearning to look after each other
not to turn our backs even in the face of more tragedy
to realize we are becoming a world of people
who’s various cultures and race
and religion infuse together
with tolerance, acceptance
and grace
we can’t nor we shouldn’t all be the same
but we can all live together
if we are raised to see it this way.
The US is a culmination of a united world
it is there awaiting birth
a new flag
a new allegiance
a new reality and comprehension of what
our entire world should look like.
Today, New Yorkers who never experienced
more than an apartment on fire, or a tragic car accident
have forever become compatriots
with neighbors who fled wars
to live in peace on our shores
wars continuing in Beruit, Palestine, Israel, Bosnia and Serbia, in
Ireland,
Columbia, Indonesia, Rwanda and Iraq, whom we continue to bomb
daily
Wars exploding, continuing all around the world before
the morning of September 11th
and continue afterward
all with either our help, financially
or providing machines of destruction,
or our surveillance
without interfering as powerful a result
or withholding aid
We have and still do exist as a power
that enforces it’s will
for it’s own purpose
not so cleanly
in the name of democracy and humanity in a free world
One reason why September 11th happened,
is too few in power believe and pursue
a vision of their own profit
at the cost of human life
You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Time for us to want to know the truth
to change the course of this corrupt, blinded vision
Democracy does not mean
underhanded manipulation of countries
and currencies and their governments
profiting one hand then turning a blind eye
to the ravaging results of loss of human life, rights
and human dignity
Why should we choose what should, or should notbe grown
or produced, or exploited
Rise up and decide today to educate yourself
Our country dominates much of the earth
How large is our military presence in the world
and why?
Is it really our military might
that makes us so strong, capable of directing the world
we are feared and loathed
but we are also loved,
because it is our people
our souls that continue to inspire
and attract the attention of the rest of the world
Is it not our free will that makes us strong?
Remove the Arms that make up only a detached
part of our collective body
and we still have our free will and speech
our art, our creation of a democracy for all people
lose it and we are lost into a military regime
no freedom
What does the US mean to you?
What will save us
and saves us now,
is our strength in numbers
we have a Constitution that gives us the freedom to speak out
and to act upon our beliefs
Tragedy always strengthens
we rebuild from the ashes
and learn from our mistakes
We can rise, we will rise
we are rising
We can reshape this country/world that has become
too complacent in the name of profit
and so irresponsible
in believing our invincibility
Was our innocence really lost?
or has the dawn awakened the reality
that the emperor really has no clothes
think of the thousands of Afghanistan refugees
reaching closed borders
What would happen if every New Yorker
exited NY to be a refugee in CT or NJ?
with no water, no food, no toilets
unimaginable
We are all human
our bones break, our flesh bleeds
and our spirits reinforced with generations of peace
can now help bring to life
a better world, a healthier place
to truly elevate the rest of the world
Who are you? A bully or a contemplator?
a xenophobic or a uniter?
Our freedom should not know a flag
of stars and stripes
but stars and earth
the same sky and ground we all stand upon
Unite in the name of all souls lost to us on September 11th
and to all people that continue to suffer throughout the
world
Today we know the truth
speak truth
and we will be freer, rewarded with
a peace we have never known
By Cathy Grier
Copyright 2001