Poetic Commemoration Of 9/11
That Tuesday
Nobody knew that the mighty could fall
and towers become dwarfs in one fell swoop
and towers become matchboxes
Till that Tuesday.
See the dazzling masterpiece
collapse under the flying box of death
see the centrepiece of commercial power
become a hub of chilling paralysis
see blue-eyed Jeanie wander through the rubble
dazedly looking for her James
see brown-eyed Dawod watch in horror
as his dream shop and dream family
all built and born in the land of realization
were fire-flown into a living nightmare
see dark-eyed Dani  collapse
in exhausted bravery under the rubble of twisted metal.
The world came unstuck in a cloud.
We never thought it could happen there
they are the superpower
they have everything, well almost.
But then it happened
and a bearded fellow gloats somewhere
in his Al-Qaedaian cave.
It was a dark day
when we suddenly saw
the demons lurking in the deepest depths of hearts
we mourned
yes, we mourned
everyone mourned
for this was mankind’ s loss.
The bell tolled for all of us that Tuesday.
Go proclaim it in Washington D. C.
freedom lives.the world will live
go shout it from the towers of London
freedom rules. no man is god unto his fellows
go preach it in the cafes of Paris
liberte. egalite.fraternite.
go proclaim it in Eagle square, Abuja
go proclaim it in Pretoria, in Tel Aviv
in Moscow, in Abidijan, in Cairo.
We will fight.We will fight to live.
We will live
Tuesday made us humble
yet it will make us proud.
Tuesday made everyone with a soul cry
yet it will make us laugh.
Henry C. Onyema is a Lagos-based writer. Email:Â henrykd2009@yahoo.com
