a poemmentary
People say it was "the day we'll never forget."
Others say it was "the day America changed forever."
Many remember their family members and friends
(sometimes in the dozens)
who were killed in the falling towers.
Or just seeing it firsthand on those New York streets.
Or the heroes who saved lives,
or went selflessly in only to die,
who did not know the towers would fall.
Those memories must be burned-in to them all.
But for the rest of us:
there is the memory of the first post-9/11 decade,
with wartime-Bush 2001 (and all that entailed thereafter)
and of a later president who managed to head off
a complete financial collapse
but did not bring the shrink-wrapped change from heaven
people wanted, or were not sure they wanted,
and that many became worse off
(though the rich have lower taxes)
and that we are now poised to enter the second decade,
with a Congress more conservative even
than then,
and are even contemplating a next president
who would be more like business-Bush 2000.
With all those memories:
what is it we are really supposed to remember again?
While change in some overseas lands may have come to pass,
I don't think America has changed all that much
(are we about to repeat in 2012 what we did in 2000?)
even though everyone today on TV says it has.
placed in dVerse ~ Poets Pub: Poetics — In Memoriam
and in Poets United Poetry Pantry #66
and in the imaginary garden with real toads
i don't feel really qualified to comment on this but from an outsider point of view it seems that america has changed since then...just from what we europeans hear and see on tv..but i have never been to america...so yes...just my humble thoughts
ReplyDeleteI also have no internal knowledge of what you speak of in this intereting and constuctive poem - but i like the fact that you have taken it on and sincerley delivered something alternative whilst maintaining an appropriate amount of respect. It is such an expansive topic so i will not comment on specifics but i liked your poem a lot.
ReplyDeletepow. thank you...i am glad for the change of tone from the rest...and i have similar questions...we are poised now on the grand junction of our nation and i am somewhat fearful of who takes the helm next....
ReplyDeleteWe live in scarey times. Trying not to allow my politics to blend into a day of memory, but I have to agree with your poem.
ReplyDelete... yes. not to wax all political or anything, but i sometimes wonder what it would really take. real change might no longer be a viable possibility.
ReplyDeleteWell, correct me if I'm wrong, but one thing that happened that's different is we had a fundamentalist president. Possibly the worst person for the job at the worst time. That opened up new possibilities, none of them good. I do think America has changed and not for the better.
ReplyDeleteFor me the urge to "remember" means 2 things. One, to memorialize and show respect for the innocent dead. And two, to think about how other courses of action would surely have had better results for everyone.
One of the more interesting thought-games is to speculate about what the decade would have been if Bush-v-Gore went the other way in 2000. (We could see a repeat of that in 2012.)
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to believe 10 years has past but it has but the memories will never pass from this day. it was a day the world stood in shock at what happened and many prayers were sent out from all around the world this day
ReplyDeletehttp://gatelesspassage.com/2011/09/11/the-sorrow-of-our-times/
This is more of a commentary than a poem but you're all ignoring the fact that it doesn't matter who gets in - the system is broke (in more ways than one).
ReplyDeleteI do think that if Gore rather than Bush had been 's'elected president in 2000 that there would have not been the Iraq invasion and war that followed. On economic issues (taxes, financial meltdown), it's harder to analyze how Gore would have changed the course. But I do think the decade without the Bush-Cheney Iraq invasion would have been different.
ReplyDelete