On this 25th anniversary of the day that still haunts our world in so many heartbreaking ways, I have no words of my own but offer this poem about hope and heroes written in November, 2001 by Kevin Powell, the acclaimed poet, journalist, filmmaker and civil and human rights activist.
September 11th: A Poem
Might it be, as my mother said to me on this ugly, sinful day,
That the world is on its last go-round?
Hijacked wild birds strip the sky of its innocent morning breath
Steel towers crumple like playing cards on an uneven metal table
Unrehearsed screams we dare not hear leap from windows
Into the open, bottomless palms of God
I cannot stand to watch life reduce
Itself to powdery dust and soot lathering the devil’s inflamed mouth
But I am fixated on the television anyhow:
Is this what slavery was like?
Is this what the holocaust was like?
Is this what famine is like?
Is this what war is like?
Is this how you felt, dear mother, when King and the two Kennedys were killed?
I want to stitch up the sky, deny humans the right to fly
Cry until my tears have washed hatred
From the mildewed underarms of history
And I want to say to the firemen
Ah, yes, the firemen:
Your husband, your father, your brother, your uncle, your friend
Thank you for speeding to the end of
Your time and thank you for showing us that
Courage is a soul so unselfish it would
Scale a collapsing building to liberate a stranger
Even as your blood relatives wonder if you are alive —
From the remains of this madness
I detect a heartbeat called life
From the remains of this madness
I smell an aroma called love
From the remains of this madness
I embrace a body called humanity
From the remains of this madness
I construct a dream called hope
From the remains of this madness
I will ride the wings of the deceased
Into the clouds, scribble their names on the sun
Erect a memorial to the moon, chant the blues
For New York City, then resurrect a world
Where a new-born rose will jut through the broken concrete.
© 2001 Kevin Powell
For more information about Kevin Powell: https://softskull.com/bookauthor/kevin-powell/
Brenda Buchanan sets her novels and short stories in Maine. Her story “Cape Jewell,” appeared in Snakeberry: Best New England Crime Stories 2025. “Crime of Devotion” was included in Murder Most Senior, an anthology released this spring at the Malice Domestic conference and her story “Links in the Chain” will be published in the anthology The Lines We Cross, which will launch at Bouchercon next month.
