9/11

Five years past,
In disbelief I watched,
Mouth agape,
As planes smashed
One after the other
Into the two towers,
Televised “live” on CNN.

Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.
This can’t be real,
It can’t be happening,
It must be a trick,
A camera trick,
A scene taken from a movie.

Then they fell
Like a stack of cards,
One after the other
Within seconds,
In a rising cloud of dust
That spread throughout Manhattan.

Another plane
Smashed into the Pentagon,
Another one into a field in Pennsylvania
One after the other.
Was that it? Was that it? Are there more?
Please, no more, no more, please.

Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.
It felt surreal,
My mind numbed
By the thought of all those lives
Snuffed by unimaginable evil.
Terror transmitted halfway across the globe
Through the wonders of technology.

It was real
And yet unreal.
We lost our innocence
That fateful day,
No more trust
In our fellow man.

We have to find our way again,
Someone help us find our way again




Five years ago, on the night (in Singapore) of Sept 11, I watched CNN broadcast "live" as planes smashed into the two towers of the World Trade Center. It was an almost out-of-body experience, as my brain numbed, & my heart screamed "No!!!" in terror & disbelief, while I watched the buildings crumble down into nothingness.

I called A immediately - he was away on a business trip - he would call his mother as soon as we hung up. He had heard the news but had not seen the terror screened on the tube. She lives less than 15 blocks from where it happened. Fortunately, she slept through it (amazingly) as she is a late riser. He told her to keep her windows shut, & not to venture out into the streets due to the uncertainty of the situation. She had a freezer stocked to the brim with food, thankfully.

After that conversation, it became impossible to contact her as the phone exchanges in that area had been affected by the destruction. For three weeks we remained incommunicado, but was fortunate that A's best friend who lived in Brooklyn was able to contact her & let us know that she was OK despite the area being cordoned off.

Although America has recovered outwardly from this assault, scars remain from that fateful day. Although unspoken, suspicion remains of those who are of a particular faith, or who look & dress a certain way. But can one blame them?

My younger son still worries about his dad's plane crashing when A goes on his frequent business trips despite my reassurances that taking the plane is safer than driving a car. Until recently, he always made sure that whenever possible, A & I were accompanied by either him, or his older brother, whenever we went out, so that they could protect us in case we were "attacked" by terrorists. A sweet but illogical sentiment. But can one blame him? We lost our innocence five years ago.