In Memory of all the people who lost their lives in New York City

poems
of remembrance

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In Memory
of all the people who lost their lives
in New York City, Washington and near Pittsburgh
on 11 September 2001

ai li
belsize park

september morning . . .
they went to work
aviation fuel in the passing breeze

in the land of the free
a new york skyline
changed forever

all this sky
and loss
on a blank page
screaming
its darkness

where you used to pick mushrooms
in the fall every fall
cell phone messages
from the dead
reach us in the silence

[inspired by Alexis K. Rotella's memories of the woods in Somerset County, PA]

memory now that loss is tangible

Haiku & Tanka copyright ai li 2001

Sheila Windsor
Stourport-on-Severn

stinging tears
in that thick black smoke:
all the people

11 September 2001

beneath a cold sky
the Buddha's face
is wet . . .

12 September 2001

his tears fall
two hundred miles away
I hold the phone

12 September 2001

Haiku copyright Sheila Windsor 2001

naia

dense morning fog
she writes "God Bless America"
on her herb stand sign

[a scene on my drive this morning amid a heavy stream of cars, 13 September 2001]

Haiga

Haiku & Haiga copyright naia 2001

Alexis K. Rotella
Arnold, Maryland

On our day of mourning raptor shriek.

Twin towers fall two candles lit.

They're still alive --
hostages on an airplane
right before it hits.

Haiku copyright Alexis K. Rotella 2001

robert d. wilson

drink from the same teacup
this september morning --
backyards shrink

Haiku copyright robert d. wilson 2001

John Wisdom

tower of fire -
a husband and wife hold hands
as they plunge

Haiku copyright John Wisdom 2001

Alenka Zorman
Ljubljana, Slovenia

the night after -
awakened by dreams of a butterfly
with burnt wings

noon at work -
during the job interview
three minutes silence

Haiku copyright Alenka Zorman 2001

Larry Kimmel
Colrain, Massachusetts

amid the shards of a nightmare i stand empty handed mute

war and the rumors
of war - still the routine
of bee and clover

[from the tibun, The Home Front; Modern Haiku XXX;3 1999]

a great dexterity
is felled by a fist -
cards scatter -
around the table
the tremor of water

Haiku & Tanka copyright Larry Kimmel 2001

Carlos Colon
Shreveport, Louisiana

rubble-covered
a dictionary page missing
the word "forgiveness"

Haiku copyright Carlos Colon 2001

an'ya
prineville, oregon

starless night -
we have only to pray
it's healing rain

Haiku copyright an'ya 2001

William Joel
Hyde Park, New York

Wisps of fading smoke
hang over monolithic
mountains of rubble
What song shall we sing
while we all hold hands?

Flickering candles
Faces full of unity
Majestic silence

Haiku & Tanka copyright William Joel 2001

Karl Bakeman
Austin, Texas

still missing--
the tall man reduced
to a name on a list

the fireman is gone
his three boys cry
with their father's eyes

Haiku copyright Karl Bakeman 2001

Linda Jeannette Ward
Coinjock, North Carolina

ash-dark sky ~
two firefighters find
parts of her

Brits and Yanks
united in Twin Towers
blown into pieces
common blood begins the end
of terrorism

Haiku & Tanka copyright Linda Jeannette Ward 2001

Robin Estill
Mossley

towers open fire
choked sky --
falling falling

sky -
line blank
--- erased

from the depth of rubble
an email --
singing the body electric

below 14th street
the crush of air --
passing in silence

Haiku copyright Robin Estill 2001

Fay Aoyagi
San Francisco

fragile shadow
of an autumn butterfly--
the mourning bells

for the gap
in September sky
an incense

a candle vigil
the heavenly sound
of two harps

up . . . up . . .
to the starless sky
my silent balloon

downloading
the Stars and Stripes
on this September night
when I want to
rewind the clock

flags at half post
for the country I chose
for the city
that helps me
to bloom

Haiku & Tanka copyright Fay Aoyagi 2001

Stanford Forrester
Wethersfield, Connecticut

9-11-01
no words
no poetry

Haiku copyright Stanford Forrester 2001

Marc Thompson
Lancaster, Pennsylvania

early chill
the leaves lose their color
and fall

Haiku copyright Marc Thompson 2001

Barry George
Philadelphia

U.S. attacked--
the homeless man
in combat fatigues

disaster chaos change & truth--
the image of the Tower
in the Tarot

Haiku copyright Barry George 2001

Bruce Kennedy
Brooklyn, New York

with no order given
the flags
at half mast

his "good to see you"
believable
after the Towers collapsed

"Please like and love me
like I love you,"
sings a twitching man by the subway.
Moments later a plane slams
into the World Trade Center

Haiku & Tanka copyright Bruce Kennedy 2001

McMurtagh
Palm Desert, California

9-11-01

GASP

9-11-01

M _ _ HATTAN

(212) 323-2340
ring ring ring
ring ring ring

world trade center phone number

Haiku copyright McMurtagh 2001

Elizabeth St Jacques
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

awakening
to a smoke-filled world
no birdsong

longing
for tranquillity
for safe blue skies
to move back
hands of the clock

september 14/01
at the toll of our peace bell
sudden rise of doves

Haiku & Tanka copyright Elizabeth St Jacques 2001

Peter Williams
Watford

burning tower
from a cell phone the words
I love you

streaming tears
she prays the child in her womb
will not be fatherless

smoke billows
from the tower
he waves a shirt
blue as the sky was
on his way to work

Haiku & Tanka copyright Peter Williams 2001

Frances LeMoine
Merrimack, New Hampshire

It is still too soon
to think about all of you
still beneath us all

feathers dropped like coins
from hands of silly children
never felt again

waterless hoses
red helmets float up flotsam
they're letting it all burn

cement shard petals
drift slowly to thoroughfares
of masked witnesses

Haiku copyright Frances LeMoine 2001

Sonia Cristina Coman
Constanta, Romania

white pigeons
with black wings-
God bless America

in mourning
still preserving one calla
the youngest offspring

Haiku copyright Sonia Cristina Coman 2001

bill lerz
Hot Springs, Arizona

a proud flag
in the morning sky
teardrops fall

yellow slickers in the rain
limp flags at half-mast

Haiku copyright bill lerz 2001

Carol Purington
Woodslawn Farm

So blue the sky
over the fields where cows graze
but enough smoke
blown from a distant city
to bring tears to my eyes

Tanka copyright Carol Purington 2001

Bruce Ross
Red Deer, Alberta

through the clear glass
of the outdoor light globe
gray September clouds

Haiku copyright Bruce Ross 2001

Michael Meyerhofer
Iowa City, Iowa

September eleventh--
for one day, all the poets
stop writing.

Like a newborn baby
lifted from the trash--
a part of a woman's shoulder

Haiku copyright Michael Meyerhofer 2001

Pamela A. Babusci
Rochester, New York

i will never
complain about
my life again...
watching the
first tower collapse

donating money
is such a
small offering
black smoke still rising
from the demolished towers

Tanka copyright Pamela A. Babusci 2001

Zinovy Vayman

Nahant seashore:
on the town emblem
a last Indian

Haiku copyright Zinovy Vayman 2001

Marjorie Buettner
Minneapolis

trying not to
take it for granted
this red-sky morning

yellowing leaves
pool at the base of trees
these end times

moon-pooled river
how the current takes with it
what is left behind

first frost on the ground
the radio talks of war
once again
while flowers in the garden
send off their last perfume

Phil Vassallo
Parlin, New Jersey

How our blood freezes
as Tower Two and One collapses--
we know all of them

David Walters
firefighter & paramedic

Twisted steel beams
left behind; all that remains
of what once was

Fire below the ground-
burning still, put out by the
tears of the firemen

How ya doin? I ask,
"We're just broken" he says and
my words mean nothing

Photos in the ruins,
Their faces-alive or dead?
I'll just never know

One pail at a time,
fill them, dump them, fill them; and
it makes no difference

Late for the airport;
search my bags and break my file,
the sky is safe now

[ . . . my name is David Walters and I was wondering if you were still
taking submissions for your WTC 09/11/01 Haiku page. I am a firefighter and
paramedic that had the opportunity to spend two weeks after the WTC incident
actually in the rubble pile at "Ground Zero", I can't impress upon people
the affect it had on my life and my psyche. I have never felt compelled to
write any of my thoughts on paper as I felt the need to after I returned
home from New York City. I also do a bit of pinhole and Polaroid transfer
photography, but my artistic efforts have always been limited to
photographic media. I felt that out of respect for the victims of the WTC's
that I not photograph within the site while on deployment, the emotions that
were present then and now at the site give the whole area a very surreal
feel that I feel to this day. I was searching the web for some info
somewhere, I don't recall just what, but I came upon your Haiku Internet
site. I actually had penned these after I returned in October some time, but
I didn't know what to do with them other that to put them on paper and file
them away . . . ]

Heather Kirk
Ventnor, Isle of Wight

inside
this world's pain
a creature of my own
inventing cruelty
so it can play
kindness

Tim Chamberlain
Stoke Newington

September 11th

All the televisions
in the shop window
- people stop walking

Tottenham Court Road, London

nate jarvis
jiangsu, china pr

some three thousand dead
for some black gold green.

american flags at half-mast
israeli flags over palestine

the drug runners retake kabul.
bush shakes hands in shanghai.

Richard Bonfield
Leicester

Two Horsemen of the Apocalypse: New York Sept 11th 2001

On a bright autumn morning
Two quicksilver bombs

The grace of a diver
The arc of a swan

On a bright Autumn morning
Two quicksilver bombs

And Yggsdril shaking
As Ragnarok comes.

First Strike: North Tower Sept 11th 2001

A silver otter
diving seamlessly
into a sea of mirrors

Second Strike: South Tower New YorkSept 11th 2001

The plane
Crashes through my brain
On an endless loop

Lucifer torching a deck of cards

And a terrible beauty is born
Miltonian pinions of Satan

Billowing

From a grey vase.

Tonka Toy:Memorial Gardens
US Embassy: London Mid September 2001

Everything depends
on a red fire engine
in the rain.

Fireman's son: New York Sept 11th

A child
waiting on the empty drive
smoke in the distance.

On radio 4
That grief stricken stockbroker
Grappling with the price of human lives

His last message
On her answerphone

She plays it
over and over.

Icons of grief
Prayer flag photographs
flutter down Broadway.

Victor Levine
Bath

fall begins
as
proud buildings
succumb
to the airplane's might

Marco Fraticelli
Point Claire, Quebec

september 11
all my tv's
on the same channel

shirley cahayom
brooklyn

i shall build
the shattered pieces
of my dreams
from the smouldering ashes
of 9-11

I would like to thank all contributors for responding so quickly to this special page of 'Poems of Remembrance' on still's website dedicated to every innocent life lost in the tragedy
on Tuesday morning 11 September 2001.

The poems & Haiga above appear in the order in which they have been received and this memorial page is being updated constantly as and when new poems come in. This will be an ongoing memorial page.

The list of contributors are:

ai li, Sheila Windsor, naia, Alexis K. Rotella, robert d. wilson, John Wisdom, Alenka Zorman, Larry Kimmel, Carlos Colon, an'ya, William Joel, Karl Bakeman, Linda Jeannette Ward, Robin Estill, Fay Aoyagi, Stanford Forrester, Marc Thompson, Barry George, Bruce Kennedy, McMurtagh, Elizabeth St Jacques, Peter Williams, Frances LeMoine, Sonia Cristina Coman, bill lerz, Carol Purington, Bruce Ross, Michael Meyerhofer, Pamela A. Babusci, Zinovy Wayman, Marjorie Buettner, Phil Vassallo, David Walters, Heather Kirk, Tim Chamberlain, nate jarvis, Richard Bonfield, Victor Levine, Marco Fraticelli a\nd shirley cahayom.

There was no editing involved with the submitted poems for this memorial page. I believe that all poems written to commemorate the lives of all these innocent people should be shared as they were written.
These poems are heartfelt and for the moment.

An epitaph in Verdun, France written by a father for his dead son read
'Since your eyes closed, mine have never ceased to cry' [trans.]

The passing years have not diminished his words nor has time robbed us of our ability to grieve for our common loss.

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