Half a Decade
Originally written on the fifth anniversary of 9/11.
A recording of me reading it is available: http://amberwindsrealm.com/HalfaDecade.mp3
You may have to turn up your sound, as my microphone sucks.
Half a Decade belongs to the following groups:
All Things Poetic, Artistic, PhilosophicalHalf a decade later
And where have we gone?
It was one of those “Where were you when…?” moments
Like JFK or MLK
The landing on the moon
I still remember waking up
Alarm clock radio sounding off to vague news reports
I turned on the TV just in time to see the second tower fall
Dust clouds rising and a toxic boom
As a monument to our arrogance was blown away
Along with 2,823 innocent lives
Now we look back with the handicap of hindsight
And “Things would be different if…”
Scapegoats and martyrs are the order of the day
More than half the American public
Thinks Saddam had something to do with it
Proof of the power of repetition
Repetition
Repetition of things that reasonable people know not to be true
And no one really wonders
Why the real bad guy is still running free
Osama? Who’s he?
We still prefer our bad guys faceless
Nameless to a degree
And Anglicized
The day has an air of insincerity
Of mourning half felt
Half a decade has halved our memory of what was spent
As a nation, we have little feeling
Even for ourselves
And that lack goes back to the beginning
Hokey USA country songs
Conguring up images of cowboy antics and the kicking of ass
Before we even knew who was responsible
Not that many of us remember who now
I remember being told not to call my friends
To make sure they were all right
While schoolchildren evacuated through New York streets
Slowly raining ash on their bookbags
1300 new orphans were made that day
Are there still tattered flyers for the missing and dead?
Are there still bouquets and candles?
I wouldn’t know
I cannot see it
My vision does not extend that far
But the sun will still rise today
Proving that life
Insensitive
Does move on
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