“9-11”

It is sad that I have to post a warning about JP at Olive Garden and especially approaching this national day of grief and mourning.  Jingle is no less than an Intellectual Terrorist, a long term thief.  She has a history of stalking and harassing other poets.  If you are reading this from their site, Please Don’t.   Copyright Infringement is a law in the USA.  It’s not only unethical, it’s Illegal.  Support real poetry sites and real poets, not pretenders.

Lady Nyo

Lady of Shallot rose

9-11

 

That beautiful morning–

Teasing taste of early Autumn

The unthinkable happened

And our world stopped turning

I saw the plane, I saw the fire

I saw the smoke descend like

A blanket of blinding grief

Too late to spare those on the ground

The sight of Armageddon.

 

 

Mortar-grey people transformed

Into gritty moving statues,

Holding hands, blinded by smoke,

Move down streets where

Paper, bricks, metal, glass rained down

Like the Devil’s Ticket Parade,

Walked in silence towards the bridges,

Barely a moan heard,

An Exodus unexpected on this

Morning of such seasonal promise.

 

I saw worse.

I saw people jump

From the ledges, holding hands,

Some with briefcases

And all I could do

Was howl:

 

“I will catch you!

Jump into my arms

I will not drop you.

Do not be afraid,

Aim for my embracing arms,

With the last of my life—

I will catch you.”

 

That day of fire and ash,

Inexplicable funeral pyre,

Of brave souls rushing in

And frightened souls rushing out

And the ash, the ash, the ash,

Covered everything like a silent September snow.

 

Fifteen years later

Grieving when this day approaches,

I hear the words swell up in me:

 

“We will catch you!

Jump into our arms,

We will not drop you.

You will not be forgotten,

With the last of our breath–

We will catch you.”

 

Jane Kohut-Bartels

Copyrighted, 9-11-2011-2016 (This poem was published in “Pitcher of Moon”, which can be purchased at Amazon.com, 2014)

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18 Responses to ““9-11””

  1. kanzensakura Says:

    This is so poignant and appropriate for today. The last stanza with its “we will catch you” refrain is so haunting.

    Like

  2. Grace Says:

    Such a sad day that so many lives were destroyed ~ I remember that day too Jane ~

    Like

  3. ladynyo Says:

    Yep. My husband lost a distant cousin in the first tower assault. We must never forget what happened that day….and the days after. I remember that I was so stricken all I could do was watch tv…crying for days. I did hook up with a multidemon. church group in Iowa, who were making quilts. I sat and hand sewed 11 single quilts….red, white and blue, and sent them off. At least I felt that I had done something positive….I hope I never have to do that again. I pray our nation does not ever have such a tragedy again.

    Like

  4. ladynyo Says:

    Thank you, Toni. I cry when I read this, and I wrote it. LOL! I remember going to Krogers grocery and the military there stocking up on water, etc. I remember feeling for the first time in a long time….an American citizen. We can be born such, but it takes something as immeasurable as this horrible event to actually feel a citizen.

    Thank you for reading and your lovely, lovely comment.

    Like

  5. thotpurge Says:

    Timely and poignant… all around the world, everyday, it seems people are grieving those lost to war and guns and violence.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. ladynyo Says:

    Yes, 9-11 was the first time America really woke up collectively. And yes, all around the world. We have to consider just who is presenting this danger. We can’t mumble along like most of Europe. That’s a deadly course. Thank you for reading and your insightful comment.

    Like

  7. Dr. Crystal Howe Says:

    Heart-breakingly beautiful poem; haunting as Toni says. Thank you for sharing.

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  8. maria Says:

    Aww… this world really needs to heal. *sigh*

    Like

  9. Sanaa Rizvi (@rizvi_sanaa) Says:

    This is heartbreaking… 😦

    Like

  10. ladynyo Says:

    Sanaa! I don’t have a twitter account, and I am reading you. I’ll have to post my comments on your writings here. Hope you read them. I deeply appreciate you reading mine here. thank you.

    Like

  11. ladynyo Says:

    Hi Maria! I agree….it would be nice. I don’t think healing is on the current agenda….not worldwide at least. There is so much violence, out there and in our communities. That is why, for me, poetry is a reality that can give peace. Creativity is what I look to in this very confusing and chaotic world.
    Thank you for reading.

    Jane

    Liked by 1 person

  12. ladynyo Says:

    Thank you Crystal. I wrote it but I still well up when I read it. It was a very traumatic time for our nation. I pray we don’t have another one, but the world is so chaotic.
    Jane

    Like

  13. Björn Rudberg (brudberg) Says:

    A day I still clearly remember… a day when everything seemed to stop,when we were glued to television at work… and you realized that nothing would ever be the same…ever.

    Like

  14. ladynyo Says:

    You’re absolutely right, Bjorn. We are a very divided nation, but that event shocked us into some sort of unity. And we realized that nothing would ever be the same. And now, what Europe, etc. is suffering just makes us Yanks uneasy…and sad. Thank you, Bjorn for reading and your comment

    Like

  15. maria Says:

    Awwee.. That’s a great way to look at poetry and creativity, Jane. They are indeed an effective outlet for us. Sadly, they alone cannot heal this world as a whole. *sigh*

    Liked by 1 person

  16. ladynyo Says:

    Agree, Maria!

    Like

  17. Victoria C. Slotto Says:

    Jane, so sorry about the problems that you’ve had with Jingle. Your poem hits hard. I was just post-op kidney transplant when that happened, so glued to the TV all day, etching the images into my memories.

    Re: trying to comment on my OLN post. That was a haibun I’d put into draft when I had comments turned off. I’d had to travel to SoCal to be with my Mom who seemed to be dying but has since rallied. The poem alludes to the trip down. I guess if comments are off when you first post the draft, they stay that way.

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  18. ladynyo Says:

    Hi Victoria! Glad your mum is rallying. May she continue to do so. Blessings on both your heads.
    Thank you for reading “9-ll”. Whoa. Kidney transplant. Serious business. That will keep you in front of a tv. Me, too, I was so in shock (I come from Princeton and they lost 60 residents from there that day.) that I sat and hand sewed 11 single quilts and sent them off to a multi demon. church in Iowa for survivors in NYC. Good God. How this has scarred our psyche in our country. And how the present politics do the same a bit Great apprehension regardless the outcome.
    Problems with Jingle. Well, I took it hard because she continues to steal my blog and the horrible revision of Storm Drain Baby was…horrible. LOL! But I am coming to understand that the woman is ill. You just don’t do that with impunity …and she’s done it for a long time. I can understand how many people on these sites are ‘mum’ about someone attacked. They don’t want Jingle to turn her stealing eyes on them Well, she probably will continue to take scalps…and she took better poet’s work than mine.
    Ir’s unfortunate, but last week I found out that a number of blogs have done the same thing with my poems. One in Scotland, and a few elsewhere. Frankly, the energy that takes to go after these morons myself just is a waste of energy. Only until other poets get organized and go after her, collectively…can she be stopped. Blogger doesn’t seem to care.
    Luckily, I have a lot of work on my plate. A new novel to publish next spring and it needs major work! Aren’t we happiest when we are covered over with paper???

    Thanks for reading and your lovely comment.

    Jane

    Like

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