On this 10th Anniversary of one of the most tragic days in our history, we remember, and thank all those who fought and fight for our freedom. Make no mistake about it. The threat to our future, the threat to us, is as real today as it ever was. Let us not ever become complacent or desensitized to this threat. There are countries that are under constant attack, bombs fall on them weekly if not daily. Homes are built with bomb shelters instead of pools in their back yards, all due to terror, all because radical terrorists cannot live in peace and compromise. Thank you to everyone who has fought and continues to fight for our freedom and to protect the values we hold so dear. Be please find 2 poems I wrote on 9/11, and have continued to re-post every anniversary since.
What It Wasn’t
What it wasn’t, was the squashing of spirits.
Both of the living and the late
It wasn’t the brutal end of freedom.
It wasn’t the titanic fall of a kingdom.
What it wasn’t, was the end of democracy.
Nor the fall of civilized life
It wasn’t the horrid beginning of a new regime.
It wasn’t the terrorists’ torrential opportunity to beam.
What it wasn’t, was destruction of Stars and Stripes.
Not the de-masting of a flag
It wasn’t the outrageous termination of the Eagle.
It wasn’t the enemy escaping after repeated evil.
What it wasn’t, was the fall of the Oval Office.
The Pentagon survived the test
It wasn’t the untimely death of the state.
It wasn’t a puncture, or gash in the gate.
What it wasn’t, was actions of the just.
A far cry from humanity
It wasn’t the downward spiral of our liberty.
It wasn’t the right, it wasn’t initiated, it wasn’t victory for the guilty.
-Bryan Hersh
What It Was
What it was, was an attack on the civilized world.
An insult to humanity, and individual rights and freedoms
It was a gruesome holocaust of death.
It was the time of thousands final breaths.
What it was, was the end of the World as we knew it.
A new realism, filled with frustration, and disgust
It was an appalling narcissistic end.
It was brutality that would transcend.
What it was, was cruelty incarnated.
A selfish act fueled by jealousy, greed and hatred
It was the brutal embodiment of evil.
It was against all that was known primeval.
What it was, was an about face turn of reality.
A changed moral and ethical view
It was a new defense against that which they stole.
It was a new dimension to civilized soul.
What it was, was the creation of a new culture.
A birth of new heroes
It was the miracle of humanity that stood in irony.
It was the future. Bitter as honey.
-Bryan Hersh
