My son and I saw the 9/11 memorial when we visited New York City this summer, and it is quite a lovely and striking monument.
Today can be a difficult day for people. It can be a time for grieving. But I hope it is a day of grieving with love instead of hate, with forgiveness instead of revenge, and with new possibilities instead of old resentments.
I would say the best way to remember the lives lost this day is to give someone a gift of kindness and connection.
Here is one of my attempts to do that…
A Poem for Susan
by Carol Cross
Just an ordinary rain
Nestled as it was between
The hurricane just departed
And the one on its way
Just an ordinary rain
Yet, the next morning
The tubular carapace of dead vines
That had encircled the tree for as long as I have known
Lay on the ground
It was beautiful in a way
A twisted lattice of entwined stalks
Like the shield between Sleeping Beauty and the world
But without the thorns
It had clung to the tree through tempests and snow
Hot humid summers and icicle storms
Thunder struck nearby but the vines did not give
Fran and Floyd blew through
But the vines held on
Until
Just an ordinary rain
And the vines came tumbling down
Like the statues in Baltimore and Durham
And the tree stood clear and unencumbered once more
Perhaps the message is
Our tears have a purpose after all
© Carol Cross, 2017
BlissFullU 