by Arden Rider

Created on: May 22, 2008

A Spectator's Tribute. (9/11/06)

The morning was fresh and calm,
beautiful at that.
Little did we know what was to come.
They wanted to kill an idea, a dream
probably because it was unreachable to them, so it seemed.
They tore down our structures, they broke our many years of peace
all in an offering to their god.
I wish they would understand
you cannot kill an idea, a dream

the emotions that bind humans eternally;
love, especially.
I watched a little girl cry;
she said she knew shed never see her daddy again
and through broken cries she smiled and sighed,
breathed long enough to state:
they will never kill her love, for love can never be taken away
the flesh may pass on, and rot away
but the emotion, the memory, the idea
remains.
Five years ago on this day,
five years ago i held my chest and prayed.
I begged whomever that war would not be the path
we would choose.
Five years ago you took a flight
you were planning on heading to California,
kissed you kids and wife, promising to return
as quickly as possible.
They took you from your chosen path
and placed you on another.
The recordings prove you didn't cry,
never faltered, were even hesitant to say goodbye.
We know now where you lie.
And how, hopefully, with the angels your souls do fly.
So please, passengers, attendants,
Mothers, Fathers, and Grandparents
show me how to fly so calmly
when so roughly you are taken off your path.
Show me courage when staring despair in the eye
and take my hand, and remind me again
what it feels like to be a true American.
Five years ago,
five years to date
I gripped my seat and watched
and waited.
We put the pieces together and came to the horrifying truth
that not all can make their lives what they wish,
not all can believe in themselves.
And with that frustration, they build a fortress of hate
and pick on those who do believe.
(For not all believe in purity, peace, and the true pursuit of happiness.)
But along with this terrifying realization,
you showed us how beautiful the soul can be
and that strength and grace still exists (unexpectedly) within humanity.
Flight 93 we will never forget thee;
September eleventh will go down in history,
not just for the facts, or the awful deeds...
no, but mainly the proof that within the soul
rests a higher power known as hope and courage
and it sits strongly within us all.
Americans, humans, beings of earth,
always remember.....
united we stand
divided we fall.

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