The Day The World Stopped (911)

It was the day we lost our innocence,
When human nature showed its worst,
And its best.
A day of terror,
Remorse,
Fear and anguish.

September 11, 2001,
The day the world stopped.

I sat watching the pictures in disbelief,
Knowing in my mind what was happening,
But in my heart, believing this could never be.

My plan that day was to buy a new computer,
But instead, I sat there watching the pictures,
My insides hollow,
My mind numb with disbelief,
Fear,
A sense of loss,
My innocence gone.

It seemed a sin to go out shopping,
While others were dying,
To be wanting something so material,
While others were losing everything.

So I just sat there,
No longer wanting to watch,
But unable to tear myself away,
Just watching and watching,
As the same images were played,
Over and over,
And over again.

I finally bought my computer that day,
My life would not stop.
I could not allow them to take it away.
My life would continue,
Though it would never be the same again.

The next day I went to work,
Taking the many phone calls
From those trying to leave the stricken city,
Or those trying to get home to families.

Every call was different,
Yet every call was the same.
Everyone was calm,
In an eerie sort of way.

No one wanted to talk about what happened,
I’m mean, what could they say?
Everyone had seen the pictures,
Everyone had felt the loss,
The sorrow,
The pain.

I took over a hundred phone calls,
One after another,
From every part of the planet,
From people just wanting to get home to loved ones,
Even if they already knew they were safe,
Just to hold them,
To tell them they were loved.
There would be no family quarrels today.

That evening I sat in front of the television
And hid myself in a bottle of wine.

by David Ronald Bruce Pekrul