9/11 Poem

[pinerow]

One Name
Ramon Pinero 09/11/2003


Cruz, Rodriguez, Jones
one name same death
same life
going to work
same day
Walters, Rivera, Wong
dads and moms
brothers and sisters
lovers and friends

Johnson, Gonzalez, Laws
Husbands and wives
aunts and uncles
some even strangers
who rode the same
subway, rode the same
elevators; always looking
up
never noticing
each other,
only to become
One Name
on this
a terrible
day
a horrible moment
frozen in time.

Lewis, Santiago Nguyen
Nasser, Colon, Negron
some friends
most strangers
who woke up
at the wrong time
on the wrong day.

Richards,Cohen and Brown
Estrada, Takahashi and Long
drank the same coffee,
lunched at the same counter
ate the same pretzels
rooted for different teams

All share just One Name
they loved their children
argued with their wives
made love to their husbands
enjoyed that Saturday
morning
so that they could sleep in
play with the kids
yell at the kids
be with the kids
take a romp with the dog
in the park
feel the sun on
their faces
hide from the rain

Mohammed, Rios and Stein
going to work
rode from the Bronx
Brooklyn and Hoboken
to meet at
the same
place,
hurrying
to get there
on time.

Perez, Meisner and Miller
Harris, Manley and Smith
going off
the third shift
having a bagel
some donuts
and arguing
whose turn it was
to pay.

All share One Name
Jameson, Parker and Torres
Morales, Hassan and Noguchi
worked a bit
of overtime that day
they should have
been halfway
home that day
they could’ve been alive that day.
One Name
is what they
are today.

People who knew
each other and
strangers on an
elevator.
Friends at
work and
strangers on the
subway.

One Name
is what they
share today

That name is
Daddy, Mommy
Tio, Granpa
and Grandmama.

They have all
become
One Name

And that name
is love.

[Droopy]

1. That's wonderful, pinerow

It gave me chills. You know when something gives you the chills that it is undeniably good.

[pinerow]

2. Than you very much...

btw...looking for a publisher...:beer:

[KaliTracy]

3. a very moving poem. thank you

for sharing it. Have you looked for poetry publications that sometimes do "themes" -- there are several that this poem would fit (not just an issue on 9/11).