As some of you may know, I happened to be in Manhattan on September 11, 2001. My friend and I were visiting my grandma - one last trip before we headed to northern California to start our first year of college. Jeremy wanted us to each write about what we experienced on that day. I don't really like to think or talk about the events of that morning, but these are some thoughts I wrote down just a few days after the incident.
Reverance
Ballet class is over
I walk into the lobby
Gather around the radio
What happened?
Drops of sweat down my forehead transform to tears
The World Trade Centers have fallen
The world around me falls with them
Outside is 87th and Broadway
Hardly any cars on the street
I walk, downtown, alone
Millions of people trying to get home, uptown
A salmon moving upstream
Home is 64th and 1st
The walk is eternity
CNN and NBC replay the crash
I have to get away from the madness
The window offers an escape from the news, but not from life
Monday, I looked out and saw the New York skyline
Now I see smoke, clouds, debris
I move to the other window
Bridges are closed to traffic
Lanes are covered with people walking home
For me going home is impossible
Airports are closed for days
Friday morning I start driving
All flags at half mast
Cities are deserted
All marquis read God Bless America
Finally home Monday afternoon
I have left the city
The memory of the city will never leave me
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