i give thanks to all the Gods and each year listen to the names of
those lost, always honored, remembered and never forgotten
i was teaching tuesday evenings, safe at home that nightmarish day
the USA was penetrable, nyc and the world changed forever
margaret escaped from the102nd floor
getting into the last elevator going down
phone calls came in all that day, the tv on repeat
tv on repeat, the fall of the twin towers. repeat, repeat, and repeat
the twin towers are down, the twin towers are down
i escaped the collapse of fiterman hall, six bmcc students dead
it’s a footnote in the history lessons of my current college students
they were not yet born, they do not remember
we remember we remember we can never forget never forget
we all came together, color, religion, ethnicity removed from
a destructive equation. we cried, we screamed, we beat our breasts
bitter ash can be remembered and still tasted from that day
i remember the families who will never forget
we of the older generation can never forget
it is 25 years later and i ask, what have we learned
i saluted you america, my child hand over my unschooled heart
voice strong, sure and innocent when i believed from sea to shining sea
as we remember 9/11 this poet must ask
america, how and when will we end the human wars
this is not the country i once knew
i’m still climbing my crystal stairs
spent, bent with a cane
my mantra, fairness and kindness to all
i ask those who are here to look at your neighbor
love your neighbor
remember, reflect and never forget, never forget
honor those lost on that infamous day