Excerpt

September 2001

In Memoriam

By

Louise Hart

© 2001 by Author. All rights reserved.

Published by Sirius Publications

http://www.sirius-books.com

Introduction

On September 11, 2001, a few hundred people out of a world of over five billion sought to impose their will on the majority as they carried out terrorist plans with well-financed operations that had consumed their lives for years. Not all succeeded. However, nineteen terrorists did. They hijacked four commercial airliners. In an unprovoked attack, they used the U.S. made airplanes, their passengers and crews as flying bomb weapons to kill and maim over six thousand people and terrorize not only a nation, but also, a whole world. The victims of these acts were of all races, sex, color, creed, age and national origins. No one was spared the pain of these events for the victims came from over eighty countries on six continents.

In the aftermath, a shocked world united first in support for the victims and their families and then in voice, declaring, "No more." Those who watched the news may not have noted, but fighting stopped in the Middle East as volunteers searched rubble for victims, too many of whom were incinerated with no trace or vestige to bury or comfort a grieving family. Dazed and too horrified to consider what may have happened to those they cherished and missed, fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, children, their parents and grandparents wandered through New York posting pictures of missing loved ones while first volunteers and then professionals began what they first hoped would be rescue and slowly came to accept as recovery operations. Victims’ families visited New York and the Pentagon as grief for their loss consumed not only them and a nation, but also, a world.

Unrepentant and without conscience, those responsible defile and mock the name of a loving Creator as they lay claim to their crimes. In violation of all religious, ethical and moral beliefs and with no respect for life, their supporters demonstrate for war against the civilized world. In an effort to restore peace and end the reign of terror, all of the civilized nations of the world have united and engaged them. As this chapbook was completed, the war between the terrorists of the world and those who seek peace had begun.

This chapbook contains poetry written in the aftermath of those events. It contains the names of the victims of the hijackings on September 11, 2001, for it is dedicated in their memory and all those touched by their passing. The poet, Louise Hart, is the author of seven other books of poetry, including Tales of a City Maid, On the Death of Love and Other Poems, The Illustrated Book of Trees, Volumes I and II, Prayers for the Temple Within and Mill Girls and their Daughters, a novel and several collections of short stories, humor, cookbooks, children’s books and general non-fiction.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Patching the Quilt

Glimpses of Reality

September Leaves

Leaves in a Wind Storm

The Fires of September

Mannahatta

Casualties in the summer of their Lives

Survivor’s Instincts

Acid Rain Falls to the Ground

Brethren in Flight

The Wind Blows Leaves To and Fro

Breathing in on the first of October

Early Frost

The Leaves Still Drip Blood Red

First Snow Falls

Memorials

Patriot’s Colors

A Prayer for America

In Memoriam

Names of The Victims

Patching the Quilt in U.S.

The universe, astrophysicists say,

Is connected by invisible strings.

Strings that like tiny threads

Weave all worlds, suns, stars,

Asteroids, comets and even dust

Together. If so, then, too are we

Connected in this land where many

People come to be joined into

A quilt of many colors, a quilt

Larger than any flag left behind

Or flown before; its colors,

Red, white, black, yellow,

Brown and all shades in between,

Are blended, mixed, intertwined

In cathedral pattern, sewn with

Threads swirled together,

Intermingled, one strengthening

Another, woven into one

Stronger than each individual foreign strand,

Imported, immigrating,

Emigrating, coming together

In hope, part of a wondrous

Comforter, warmer, more glorious

Than the world has ever seen.

Ripped, torn, violated,

Cut, slit with knives, attacked,

Stabbed until red strands,

Shreds hang like sinews

Stripped of skin by fire,

Flying broken concrete

And twisted metal shrapnel

From terrorist hijacked planes.

In the aftermath of the irrational,

Unprovoked act of war,

Professionals and volunteers unite,

Move with one will, one faith.

Bewildered, yet resolute, they

Sift through rubble, remnants

Seeking, assessing what they can save,

Hopefully rescuing, preparing for removal,

Leveling before memorial rebuilding.

Quilters, with vision as clear and unfailing,

As those who first with careful stitches assembled,

Made this tapestry of wonder, unparalleled,

Now against smoke and dust, don masks

And lift the tattered comforter onto their laps

To gently touch, remember, reverently bury

What cannot be recovered, what was

Wrongfully taken from them,

As with needles and steady hands,

Stitch by stitch, square by square,

They seek to patch, re-establish,

Recover the work of art forever altered

By the fanatical acts of criminals.

Glimpses of Reality

On a late afternoon

Before the harvest moon,

Fractal bare lines against

A gray and white-clouded sky

Declare the truth of our fractal,

Connected existence.