Not a cloud in the sky
But a care in the world
Oh, yes,
I remember
the moment I heard the news
The relentless replay of the images
And the deep blue of the sky
The disbelief
The dust
The fear
The diaspora on the bridges
How everything changed
How much I longed for peace.
I remember dinner that night.
PreciousGrrrl daughter
growled with fury and
wanted to fight with someone,
to enlist in something.
RockStar son
had been reading essays
by writers from around
the world about his
country 'tis of thee
And he tried to piece
together an understanding
At his request, we turned off the television.
And just days before
I had finished reading
Barbara Kingsolver's novel,
the Poisonwood Bible,
and I felt something big
and amiss. Still do.
So unreal
so hard to fathom.
Until tonight,
when I read this
while commemorative fireworks
boomed in the distance.
It felt personal.
And I need to see something
beautiful when I look
at the blue sky on this morning.
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Please have a look at Chef Kar's deft handling of today's remembrance in 55 words, part of a theme on Fridays hosted by G-man, whose own post of 55 words deserves is a must-read, too.
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I send you peace.
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Image by lassi.kurkijarvi
Comments
Beautiful piece of work from you. I am so honored to have offered up some hope in the wake of the horrible memories of that fateful day.
I, like you and so many others, will never forget where I was or what I was doing. I was in my Kaua'i home, thousands of miles from the mainland and sound asleep when most others heard the news. It was my father that somberly told me to turn on the news, that he couldn't even put to words the images he was seeing.
Our little piece of paradise became eerily quiet ~ typically helicopters buzz above the beaches carrying anxious tourists along our gorgeous coastline. The only noises we heard were those of special forces patrolling our isolated islands.
We were delayed in returning to Colorado [our primary home] as homeland security did not allow our tiny airport access due to a rule of parking within a certain distance from the terminal. We were the second to last airport cleared in the US.
In the ensuing months and years I've read so many touching stories of those that were lost. I have since happened upon some whose daily inconveniences kept them from where they would have/should have been on that day. They were the ones I wished to pay tribute to yesterday. The "lucky" ones ~ so many who are still recovering from "survivor guilt" ~ a real and painful reality.
Again, thank you for your nod. It truly is an honor.
With kind regards and hugs,
Chef Kar
Everything changed on that day - one of the good things to come out of it is that we will always be able to connect with anyone about what they felt, where they were when it happened.
Thanks for visiting my blog. I'm happy to have discovered your 3 blogs!
I wanted to write more about that terrible day, but decided not to. I said prayers and shed tears, instead. Do you think we'll ever have peace in the world?
Rather more than 55 words but all of them beautifully put. I appreciated reading the two other pieces as well.
Thank you. That was extraordinary.
I posted this poem on my blog a while back, and I find it so powerful:
http://www.martinespada.net/alabanza.htm
To this day, whenever there's a day in which there's not a cloud in the sky I think of that morning.
Thanks for this poem.