Works previously published in

Mourning: A Tribute

A 'zine by AllGen Press in 2001

In memory of those who lost their lives on

11 September, 2001

All of the following works are poetry in some form or another.

Category: Haiku

Stylized poetry in the Japanese form -- usually word pictures painted in 17 syllables

Free Stryle Poetry

There Was A Time...

13 September 2001

There was a time...

          when I thought the worst thing I would ever see was a child, lost and alone, searching 

for their mother.

There was a time...

          when I thought the worst thing I would ever see was when the US Embassy in Tehran

was taken over and the year that followed.

There was a time...

          when I thought the worst thing I would ever see was the devastation when someone

exploded a "car bomb" in the parking garage of the World Trade Center.

There was a time...

          when I thought the worst thing I would ever see was the aftermath of the explosion 

          when the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City was bombed.

There was a time...

          when I knew the absolute worst thing I had ever seen was a plane flying into the

          second tower of the World Trade Center, then hearing about the plane that

          slammed into the Pentagon, and then the one that ditched into a field in Pennsylvania.

There was a time...

          when I witnessed a young mother's relief when she located her lost child.

There was a time...

          when I saw a nation come together, in prayer and hope, as we watched the events in

          Tehran unfold.

There was a time...

         when I saw New Yorkers come together to help others in their city and recover from

         the bombing of the World Trade Center.

There was a time...

         when I was part of the outpouring of support that flooded into Oklahoma City when

         that city needed our nation's assistance.

There was a time...

         when I saw the World come together in support of the United States of America

         when, once again, the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a small town in

         Pennsylvania were attacked by terrorists.

There was a time...

         when I thought that the USA was the 'safest' country on Earth. 

Now I know that was only an illusion.

I have never considered myself to be a 'doomsayer' or a 'warmonger,' but I look at this timeline of events...

Tehran, the US Marine Barracks in Lebanon, Grenada, Herrod's in England, Brighton England, Lockerbie Scotland, Tienanmen Square, Iraq invading Kuwait, Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm, #10 Downing Street, Sarin gas in Japan, Oklahoma City, Khobar Tower bombing, Kenya and Tanzania US Embassies bombed, the USS Cole in the 'safe' port of Yemen, and now, 11 September 2001.

...and I can't help but wonder, "What's next and when will it end?"

There was a time...

         when I thought the worst thing I would ever see was a child, lost and alone, searching

         for their mother.

I was wrong.

Dreams

13 September 2001

When I was a child, I wanted to be one of you.  A fireman or a police officer, I just couldn't choose. The cars and trucks you rode in always looked so cool, and the clothes you wore were always neat.

I wanted to be one of you.

So I did my best in school, kept my grades up no matter how hard the subjects were, and then I applied.  

First to be a fireman.

Never knew just how hard those tests were going to be.  The book learning I could handle, the fire theories were tough but I got them.  But to carry a 250 pound dummy up and down over 12 flights of stairs?  Or to carry that same weight up and down a ladder?  To rush into a burning building, armed only with an axe or hose, carrying fifty pounds of gear?  

Sorry, I couldn't do that.  I'm not that strong, brave, or heroic.

So I set my sights on being a police officer.  

Okay, some of the subjects I had to learn about turned my stomach.  I never knew my fellow humans could be so cruel to one another, or so vicious to children.  But I swallowed the bile rising in my throat and kept right on plugging through.  

The laws!  Oh, my!  There are just so many of them I had to learn; Federal, State and local ones.  Ones that made sense and ones that didn't, but all designed to protect the public.  But I studied and I learned.

Then I learned how to handle a firearm.  Pistols, revolvers, handguns, shotguns, rifles and more.  I was scared at first when I heard a .45 go off on the range; I'd never heard such a sound before.  But I learned to ignore that report, to absorb the recoil and shoot the paper targets. Then came the toughie:  I had to participate in a "live fire" exercise and was pegged to play "sniper" since my range scores were so high.  I set up where the commander told me.  My rifle braced on a tripod stand, the scope set for over 200 yards, I was ready.  Then the call came over the earbug while I was sighting on the hostage taker and his hostage. "You have a GO on the hostage."  WHAT?  Oh man...  I couldn't do it.  So the scenario, thank God it was just training, failed and the bad guys got away.

I couldn't be a cop.  Not facing those kinds of decisions on a daily basis.  So I left.

But I found another path to take.  One that still allowed me to help my fellow citizens and to help the firemen and police that I'd come to respect for their courage, bravery, honesty and other fine qualities.

I'm a dispatcher. 

I'm the lifeline to the cop on the beat, the life preserver for the fireman on the scene and the calm voice of peace as I talk to a caller as I get help on the way.  

I wanted to be a fireman or a cop, but I'm only a simple dispatcher.

I cry when I lose one of "my" boys or girls in the line of duty.  They're my friends, my comrades, my family.  And I know, oh how I know, they are much better than I ever could be. 

God bless and keep you all safe from harm tonight.

A Million Points of Light

11 September 2001

A million points of light

Holding back the darkness

This may only be a candle

But the prayers behind it are strong

A million points of light

Holding back the horror

One candle may not be much

But together we'll light the world

A million points of light

Bringing hope to the world

A single candle starts the gathering

As we all unite in a common cause

I Remember ...

11 September 2002

I remember…

With no prompting from the media

Events of a year ago

In New York City, Pennsylvania and Virginia.

I do not need to see the images from that horrible day

Blazing across my TV screen once again

They are indelibly burned into my mind.

I do not need to hear the various songs

Pouring out of my radio

To commemorate the events of September 2001.

I remember my response

To the images of the day

When they were live.

The fear has faded

The hate has ended

The anger has been banked.

But I remember…

I recall, every day, the heroes

The policemen and firemen

The citizens who answered the call.

I remember, with startling clarity

The intelligence pouring out of the agencies

Pointing fingers of "guilt" toward the Middle East.

I remember the unthinking idiots

Who struck out at innocents

Disrupting lives with careless thoughts and deeds.

My emotions still run strong

Through the full gambit

Hate, fear, hope, anger, hope again and more.

Every day I pray

For the men and women serving their country

In a region fraught with danger.

I know…

As time goes by

The world will heal

And we'll be better for the trials we've gone through;

Without a doubt that we'll be stronger

As a world for coming together

In hope, prayer and meditations.

That I will never forget

Just as you will never forget

Events of last September.

But we go forward in life

Living as we did before "it" happened

Pausing to reflect when we can.

That terrorism will always be around

But I can hope it will slow its frantic pace

As the terrorists realize it goes nowhere.

I remember…

I know…

I'll never forget.

Please visit AllGen Press *here* for this 'zine and many, many more.  Author of the above poetry also has two (2) Stargate SG-1 tales available in a couple of AllGen Press 'zines, which will not be available online until late 2004.

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