This is very sobering indeed.
Thanks, Special K, for bringing this up again to commemorate the tragedy. When I was in NYC April '03, I visited the site.
Pat
TURN ON CNN: PLANE HIT WORLD TRADE CTR BLDG!!!
by MadApostate 181 Replies latest social current
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Nancy Drake
us people are just poems
we're 90% metaphor
with a leanness of meaning
approaching hyper-distillation
and once upon a time
we were moonshine
rushing down the throat of a giraffe
yes, rushing down the long hallway
despite what the p.a. announcement says
yes, rushing down the long stairs
with the whiskey of eternity
fermented and distilled
to eighteen minutes
burning down our throats
down the hall
down the stairs
in a building so tall
that it will always be there
yes, it's part of a pair
there on the bow of noah's ark
the most prestigious couple
just kickin back parked
against a perfectly blue sky
on a morning beatific
in its indian summer breeze
on the day that america
fell to its knees
after strutting around for a century
without saying thank you
or please
and the shock was subsonic
and the smoke was deafening
between the setup and the punch line
cuz we were all on time for work that day
we all boarded that plane for to fly
and then while the fires were raging
we all climbed up on the windowsill
and then we all held hands
and jumped into the sky
and every borough looked up when it heard the first blast
and then every dumb action movie was summarily surpassed
and the exodus uptown by foot and motorcar
looked more like war than anything i've seen so far
so far
so far
so fierce and ingenious
a poetic specter so far gone
that every jackass newscaster was struck
dumb and stumbling
over 'oh my god' and 'this is unbelievable' and on and on
and i'll tell you what, while we're at it
you can keep the pentagon
keep the propaganda
keep each and every tv
that's been trying to convince me
to participate
in some prep school punk's plan to perpetuate retribution
perpetuate retribution
even as the blue toxic smoke of our lesson in retribution
is still hanging in the air
and there's ash on our shoes
and there's ash in our hair
and there's a fine silt on every mantle
from hell's kitchen to brooklyn
and the streets are full of stories
sudden twists and near misses
and soon every open bar is crammed to the rafters
with tales of narrowly averted disasters
and the whiskey is flowin
like never before
as all over the country
folks just shake their heads
and pour
so here's a toast to all the folks who live in palestine
afghanistan
iraq
el salvador
here's a toast to the folks living on the pine ridge reservation
under the stone cold gaze of mt. rushmore
here's a toast to all those nurses and doctors
who daily provide women with a choice
who stand down a threat the size of oklahoma city
just to listen to a young woman's voice
here's a toast to all the folks on death row right now
awaiting the executioner's guillotine
who are shackled there with dread
and can only escape into their heads
to find peace in the form of a dream
cuz take away our playstations
and we are a third world nation
under the thumb of some blue blood royal son
who stole the oval office and that phony election
i mean
it don't take a weatherman
to look around and see the weather
jeb said he'd deliver florida, folks
and boy did he ever
and we hold these truths to be self evident:
#1 george w. bush is not president
#2 america is not a true democracy
#3 the media is not fooling me
cuz i am a poem heeding hyper-distillation
i've got no room for a lie so verbose
i'm looking out over my whole human family
and i'm raising my glass in a toast
here's to our last drink of fossil fuels
let us vow to get off of this sauce
shoo away the swarms of commuter planes
and find that train ticket we lost
cuz once upon a time the line followed the river
and peeked into all the backyards
and the laundry was waving
the graffiti was teasing us
from brick walls and bridges
we were rolling over ridges
through valleys
under stars
i dream of touring like duke ellington
in my own railroad car
i dream of waiting on the tall blonde wooden benches
in a grand station aglow with grace
and then standing out on the platform
and feeling the air on my face
give back the night its distant whistle
give the darkness back its soul
give the big oil companies the finger finally
and relearn how to rock-n-roll
yes, the lessons are all around us
and a change is waiting there
so it's time to pick through the rubble, clean the streets
and clear the air
get our government to pull its big dick out of the sand
of someone else's desert
put it back in its pants
and quit the hypocritical chants of
freedom forever
cuz when one lone phone rang
in two thousand and one
at ten after nine
on nine one one
which is the number we all called
when that lone phone rang right off the wall
right off our desk and down the long hall
down the long stairs
in a building so tall
that the whole world turned
just to watch it fall
and while we're at it
remember the first time around?
the bomb?
the ryder truck?
the parking garage?
the princess that didn't even feel the pea?
remember joking around in our apartment on avenue D?
can you imagine how many paper coffee cups
would have to change their design
following a fantastical reversal of the new york skyline?!
it was a joke, of course
it was a joke
at the time
and that was just a few years ago
so let the record show
that the FBI was all over that case
that the plot was obvious and in everybody's face
and scoping that scene
religiously
the CIA
or is it KGB?
committing countless crimes against humanity
with this kind of eventuality
as its excuse
for abuse after expensive abuse
and it didn't have a clue
look, another window to see through
way up here
on the 104th floor
look
another key
another door
10% literal
90% metaphor
3000 some poems disguised as people
on an almost too perfect day
should be more than pawns
in some asshole's passion play
so now it's your job
and it's my job
to make it that way
to make sure they didn't die in vain
sshhhhhh....
baby listen
hear the train? -
wednesday
I will never forget who the enemy is.
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Simon
I will never forget who the enemy is.
Pity Bush did ... three years after Sep 11 and instead of persuing the perpetrators he instead started searching for Oil and some easier targets.
Maybe they will pull Bin Laden out in time for the election though.
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Special K
Maybe just a day of remembrance of all the lost moms, dads, sons, daughters who died.
The firefighters, emergency crew, police officers..who gave their lives in rescue efforts.
to all those who lost their lives that day.
I remember
Special K
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Leolaia
I went to the site in June 2002. Just three years after I last visited New York. I still kick myself for not going to the WTC in June 2001 because I wanted to see the movie "Pearl Harbor" instead; thought, Oh, I'll just go there on my next trip. I was there tho in June 1999. I spent three days at Ground Zero, or rather, walking around it and taking pictures, trying to heal from the shock and sorrow. One thing I tried to do is go to the exact places where many famous photos were taken to view the scene with my own eyes. I also went where I had taken my own pictures of the WTC in the past, to make a before and after comparison:
It was heartwrenching walking down Liberty Street, which had become a covered pedestrian walkway and which was right in the collapse zone, knowing that people died right where I was walking. Never in my life had I felt anything more sacred and worthy of respect. I really hope the city planners and architects really honor the site for future generations. What I've heard recently tho is not very encouraging.
I also took pictures of my favorite New York landmarks....here is my favorite pic of the Empire State Building that I took on that trip:
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dh
this thread is an interesting read.
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myelaine
GOD BLESS AMERICA.
GOD BLESS THE PEOPLE AFTER HIS OWN HEART.
AMEN
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bisous
Hopefully God had nothing to do with this....rather religious zealots who twist and manipulate and brainwash others into believing they are doing the will of a Creator.
"God Bless America????" vs. what? "God Strike Dead People Against America"
Give me a flipping break .... and today of all days...... BLECH.
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avishai
I will never listen to ani difranco again after reading that song.
I find the posting of that song offensive to the victims of 911. It's about RELIGIOUS FANATACISM, PEOPLE! That's what caused this. It has nothing to do with where we are now, or what Bush was doing then. He'd only been in office for eight mo. Can we please talk about the victims today without talking smack about the American government? Geez, talk about poor taste.