Latter day ruminations

I object to allowing the events of September 11th, 2001 to fade into some obscure, convenient place in either the individual or collective consciousness.

George Santayana's admonition about the danger of discarding the lessons of history is only the latest in a long litany of sage voices echoing that same sentiment down through the ages. Debate on precisely what lessons were left embedded in the rubble of the World Trade Center seems unavoidable, but only so long as we vigorously seek those same lessons out can we ever hope to offset in any measure the inherent insanity of such profligate squandering of human life:

just where were you
(that sunny morn)
when foul hate blocked out the light
and man's upward reach
assailed by fears
collapsed to dusty night?

what did you see
(that sunny morn)
just beyond the blood rent sky
where souls disappeared
'midst angels' tears
and madness replaced why?

how did you feel
(that sunny morn)
when men's hearts turned icy numb
as iron's tortured shriek
made instants years
and reason was struck dumb?

what did we find
(that darkened morn)
in most horrid aftermath
love's truth and power
or insane gears
to turn more lives to wrath?