Towering above the Manhattan Skyline
The twin towers of the World Trade Centre stood.
Dwarfing the city, in elegant beauty,
They symbolised all for which America stands.
The financial heart of the slumber-less city,
Standing for justice, for truth and for love.
A base for all nations, to work and to live in
A city within a city it stood.

Out of a cloudless blue sky in September
Disaster struck in the blink of an eye
Planes crashed into each of the towers
Bringing horror and terror and death.
The Pentagon, a field in Pennsylvania
Were also hurt by this terrorist act
Thousands of people were killed or were injured
Or were widowed and orphaned too.

The images of the towers on fire were live on the tv,
Smoke billowing out as they burnt
Then falling and collapsing, one after the other
Together in life and together in death.
Out of the dust, came the story of hero’s
Giving their lives so that others may live
People that should have been there but weren’t
People that shouldn’t have been there, but were.

Memories of that September morning
Will live on within us each day,
As we mourn those we lost,
On the planes, on the ground
One day in history we cannot forget.

One year on and the pain is still here
And the anger and hurt that we felt.
The site is now cleared, and plans on the table
To rebuild and renew and remember.

9/11 will always serve to remind us
Of just what harm hatred does
But it also can serve to remind us
Of just what friendship can do.

© Clare Sept 2002