10 Years of 9/11 Poetry

Poetic Asides regular Bruce Niedt, who wrote a great WCW deconstruct yesterday, left an interesting suggestion for me via e-mail last night:

First off, let me echo the sentiment about the heated political arguments. Share your poetry on the left, the right, the middle, but don't go attacking someone else's perspective or creative output on this blog. I'm not into bullying, whether it's kids against kids or poets against poets. Respect each other.

Second, let's do this. I think this is a great idea from Bruce. I know I've written several 9/11-inspired poems myself. In fact, many non-9/11 poems I've written, I'm sure, have been written in a post-9/11 worldview. I'll see if I can hunt some of those older poems down.

Please share your 9/11-inspired poems (new and old) in the comments below. Encourage your friends and family to share their own contributions too. We're still dealing with the aftershocks of 9/11, but it's important to show how we've progressed, regressed, and not changed at all as a result.

In the meantime, here's a new attempt from me:

"All the way home"

What I remember most is the sky
was a blank slate of blue and that nobody
seemed to know the whole story. I drove
home through contradicting juxtapositions--
even the birds seemed to be grounded.
All the way home, I spotted vulnerable
targets. My dreams that night--when I could
finally get to sleep--involved men with guns
and loud voices. But the next morning,
I dressed for work and started living again. 

*****

Again, please share your 9/11 poems and remember to be respectful.