gumboot
lorcutus.tolere
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2006
- Messages
- 25,327
This is something I started working on after reading posts at this forum on 9/11 this year. It's only half done, but it's taking longer than expected (and is longer itself, than expected) so I wanted to post what I have so far, before it's too removed from the date itself.
Some of the lines are a bit clunky, as key words and phrases needed to be included.
This work is dedicated not to any victim, or any hero, but, in true cliche fashion, to the value of freedom itself. I believe our civilisation is built on the value of freedom. Our believe it is a value to cherish, a value that can only be retained at a steep price. 9/11 was a bitter reminder of just how expensive that value is.
THAT DAY IN FALL
That day in Fall the sky was clear
Of cloudy hurt and stormy strife.
A day of peace unscathed by fear
But teeming full with blissful life.
Yet on that quiet, noteless date
The world we knew became no more.
Turned upside down by blind hot hate;
From life to death; from peace to war.
Fierce eyes gazed out past oceans wide;
Blades poised to strike with but a word.
Yet blind they were to threats inside,
And here within the danger stirred.
In skies of aching endless blue
As souls traversed from place to place
The gutless foe his weapons drew
And showed to all true hatred’s face.
That day in Fall flight one-one fell
Out of the sky towards the ground.
Seven and eighty souls in her shell
As fierce eyes slowly turned around.
Too slow they turned, those ancient eyes,
So long forgot and put aside.
Their daggers stripped by leaders “wise”;
Yet now the land for daggers cried.
Too late they came, though hard they tried
Too late the shout; too late the call.
In fire and roar the silence died;
The flight plunged through a castle tall.
Flame, death and heat through office swept;
The flight unleashed its deadly load.
While most gazed on and others slept
Towards the smoke brave heroes rode.
With siren’s wail and lights they came
As steel and glass and victims fell.
Without applause and with no fame
They stepped within the maw of hell.
With heavy load they climbed the stair
With blade of water, shield of foam.
They climbed, those knights, in spite fear.
So many climbed; so few came home.
Above the street on floors alight
The fate of hundreds, cruel was cast.
No words or thoughts describe the plight
Of those that up there lived their last.
‘Twas they; the trapped, the damned, the lost
That felt the sting of senseless rage.
‘Twas they that paid the utter cost;
‘Twas they within that buckling cage.
That day in Fall had just begun;
One seven five, the next to die.
A clever web the foe had spun
As chaos swept across the sky.
Sixty souls within this tomb
As devils drove it screaming in.
Then buildings through the windows loom;
Ahead approached the castle’s twin.
In shock we watched around the world
On TV set of every size.
The tower burned, the smoke unfurled,
Watched live by half a billion eyes.
The second flight, in tower’s shade,
On jagged evil black-swept wing
With dark intent, of evil made,
It struck the burning castle’s twin.
Oh nine oh three, the clocks they read
As here at last the truth we saw;
‘Deliberate act,’ the word was spread,
No accident, but act of war.
A second hell through office seethed
Through crowded streets the impact barked.
A world was shocked, a nation heaved,
In that moment immortal marked.
That day in Fall, as side by side
The shattered towers fiercely burned.
In loved ones’ arms we wept and cried,
To strangers met in fear we turned.
Our woes forgot, our cares disposed,
Our very values redefined.
Our common ground, by fire exposed;
We watched as one; as humankind.
But far above in haunted soar
The fate of many lay in doubt.
The hijackers had struck once more;
Flight seven seven turned about.
Eastward over meadows green,
Fifty nine souls held in her breast,
The third flight taken flew unseen,
By eyes that frantic searched the west.
TO BE CONTINUED
Some of the lines are a bit clunky, as key words and phrases needed to be included.
This work is dedicated not to any victim, or any hero, but, in true cliche fashion, to the value of freedom itself. I believe our civilisation is built on the value of freedom. Our believe it is a value to cherish, a value that can only be retained at a steep price. 9/11 was a bitter reminder of just how expensive that value is.
THAT DAY IN FALL
That day in Fall the sky was clear
Of cloudy hurt and stormy strife.
A day of peace unscathed by fear
But teeming full with blissful life.
Yet on that quiet, noteless date
The world we knew became no more.
Turned upside down by blind hot hate;
From life to death; from peace to war.
Fierce eyes gazed out past oceans wide;
Blades poised to strike with but a word.
Yet blind they were to threats inside,
And here within the danger stirred.
In skies of aching endless blue
As souls traversed from place to place
The gutless foe his weapons drew
And showed to all true hatred’s face.
That day in Fall flight one-one fell
Out of the sky towards the ground.
Seven and eighty souls in her shell
As fierce eyes slowly turned around.
Too slow they turned, those ancient eyes,
So long forgot and put aside.
Their daggers stripped by leaders “wise”;
Yet now the land for daggers cried.
Too late they came, though hard they tried
Too late the shout; too late the call.
In fire and roar the silence died;
The flight plunged through a castle tall.
Flame, death and heat through office swept;
The flight unleashed its deadly load.
While most gazed on and others slept
Towards the smoke brave heroes rode.
With siren’s wail and lights they came
As steel and glass and victims fell.
Without applause and with no fame
They stepped within the maw of hell.
With heavy load they climbed the stair
With blade of water, shield of foam.
They climbed, those knights, in spite fear.
So many climbed; so few came home.
Above the street on floors alight
The fate of hundreds, cruel was cast.
No words or thoughts describe the plight
Of those that up there lived their last.
‘Twas they; the trapped, the damned, the lost
That felt the sting of senseless rage.
‘Twas they that paid the utter cost;
‘Twas they within that buckling cage.
That day in Fall had just begun;
One seven five, the next to die.
A clever web the foe had spun
As chaos swept across the sky.
Sixty souls within this tomb
As devils drove it screaming in.
Then buildings through the windows loom;
Ahead approached the castle’s twin.
In shock we watched around the world
On TV set of every size.
The tower burned, the smoke unfurled,
Watched live by half a billion eyes.
The second flight, in tower’s shade,
On jagged evil black-swept wing
With dark intent, of evil made,
It struck the burning castle’s twin.
Oh nine oh three, the clocks they read
As here at last the truth we saw;
‘Deliberate act,’ the word was spread,
No accident, but act of war.
A second hell through office seethed
Through crowded streets the impact barked.
A world was shocked, a nation heaved,
In that moment immortal marked.
That day in Fall, as side by side
The shattered towers fiercely burned.
In loved ones’ arms we wept and cried,
To strangers met in fear we turned.
Our woes forgot, our cares disposed,
Our very values redefined.
Our common ground, by fire exposed;
We watched as one; as humankind.
But far above in haunted soar
The fate of many lay in doubt.
The hijackers had struck once more;
Flight seven seven turned about.
Eastward over meadows green,
Fifty nine souls held in her breast,
The third flight taken flew unseen,
By eyes that frantic searched the west.
TO BE CONTINUED
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