thunderclouds
snuff the new moon stars
one by one . . .
each candle across the globe
a small offering of light

— Maria Steyn, South Africa

In peace and with deep compassion . . .

A Feeling

In the barely-awakened
new century
the sky sickens
to a dangerous
tiger-yellow
and the sun
hangs low
a moody blood-shot
eye.

—  Dawn Bruce, Australia

I can't find any word of comfort for September  11 Tragedy. The breaking news came out around 10 PM when I watched another TV program. It shocked and attacked me. I kept watching on CNN until next morning. All the people in Japan feel worried and sad. We are sad for thousands of families who were directly effected by the violence. Thinking of you every moment,

— Ikuyo Yoshimura, Japan

It's difficult to write good poetry about an incident such as this, it often just ends up sounding trite, banal, and jingoistic.  However, it's still how I react to things.
 

you called me
after the airplanes
exploded
shattering the peace
where we kept out lives

— Marc Thompson, USA

. . . my thoughts are with all America
 

fallen apples
just standing in the rain
without a coat

— paul t conneally, USA
 

because I live
this intimacy
of guilt — 
strangers once
but no longer

—  Dina E. Cox, Canada

drink from the same teacup
this september morning — 
backyards shrink

—  robert d. wilson, USA citizen in the Philippines

Let no one ever say any thoughts of war are ever caused by religion. True religion does not beget war, and no religion truly supports it. What we are witnessing is political, but the politics of power, not of nations or of one country against another.

How can we ever live in a peaceful world, unless we learn to live fully in the present? History is full of both achievements and regrets, but both have passed. The future is what will unravel from the present; it is the consequence of all the choices we make now.

Every day, the news is different. Every day, the news is the same. I struggle at breakfast, trying to make sense of a changed world.
 

        morning paper
        a coffee stain circle
        on the word "zeroes"
        9/12/01

the night after -
awakened by dreams of a butterfly
with burnt wings
 

noon at work -
during the job interview
three minutes silence

—  Alenka Zorman, Slovenia

We come together at this time of senseless loss and destruction.
Dumbstruck at the enormity of it all. We are  filled with emotions, a tumultuous conflict of disbelief, anger, compassion, fear, loss, love and revenge. We want resolution and we want it now so we can go back to our normal lives. Yet the terrifying truth is that our lives will never be the same. Things we have taken for granted:  safety, freedom, protection, our sense of national invulnerability have been blasted away by the images behind our eyes of airplanes smashing into towers, a government building, and crashing into a field. 

How could this atrocity have happened?

In our fear, we demand answers and retribution. Fear fuels action and ignites revenge. The hardest thing to do is to do nothing. To wait until the facts are in, till the dust settles and the wounded and dead are cared for. The challenge for our leaders is to ferret out the terrorists and their leaders, and bring them to justice--not through widespread bombing of innocent people but by using all available resources to track them down. If we as individuals are to take action, let it be compassionate:  donating blood, funding the rescue operation, helping the crews, offering words of solace to those grieving and in turmoil. For it is from the heart that we begin life and from the heart that we leave it.

September wind
flags fly half-mast
still sun shines

No words
to extinguish the fires
started by planes
loaded with hatred...
so we cry

New York towers – 
a world of humanity,
in one September day

—  Debi Bender, USA

 
COLLAGE

we carry it with us
an indelible collage
planes, soaring twin towers
fireballs
billowing smoke
people falling
the pentagon burning
rubble in a field
pictures posted, candles lit
dreams collapsing
a nation in prayer while
around the world
a moment of silence

—  doris kasson, USA

they did not go home . . .
early autumn
my small screen
with fire balls
in a blue sky

empty apartments
homes undisturbed

no one here
to claim
the new silence

—  ai li, UK

                                            3
                                         TWO
                                         ONE
                                     THE FIRE
                                  INSIDE ME

—  Ernest Berry, NZ

I see  no comfort, only sharing of grief and fear. And revenge is no consolation here because most of the people who may be killed will have been absolutely unable to do anything to stop terrorism.
I bought some flowers and left them at the fenced-off area around the American embassy, the only thing I could do. There were flowers and the small candles we use to heat food and cards. All flags half mast even where you very seldom see flags.
And on Friday three minutes of silence and waiting in the buses and underground at noon, and more flags half mast. 
 

Long slow fall
of tiny bodies
from the burning highrise
trade tower

I have no poems to give to your web page because: in the
words from my Sept. 15  blog :

" stood on the beach to sing my prayers and my songs. I beat the drum until the skin on my hand grew as hot the drumhead hide. I took my salty tears back to their home in the sea where I wept until I was empty. The sky was heavy with a dark fog.
         Gulls screamed. And one ate a starfish.
         Phrases formed in my mind. Only a stub of a pencil was in my 
pocket. So I wrote my poems, inarticulate as they were, on the smooth stones of the beach. As the blackened stones piled up around the silver driftwood log, I realized the poems were the only  thing of mine I had to give away to the souls cast off from earth. So calling out the names of the uncounted dead, I threw the stones back into the sea."

         I still struggle to find a way to poetry through the rubble of 
ideals, hopes and broken prayers. 

—  Jane Reichhold, USA

hazy river...
crashing the Pentagon
unknown soldiers

out of the blue
buildings collapse on thousands:
autumn haze

autumn in new york
the skyscrapers are falling...
no U-turn

—  joyce maxner, USA

a phone rings
under rubble . . .
the warm rain

bush camp – 
a city like yours
in the embers

The tears from your eyes were like a spring

But,  now, they are like fern spores

which, when shaken out in the desolate places

push fronds up to stand in the ashes.

with deepest sympathy for the American people: countless millions, all around the world, grieve with you . . . it is dark now but ultimately, light and goodness will prevail. 

 
stinging tears
in that thick black smoke
all the people

his tears fall
two hundred miles away
I hold the phone

beneath a cold sky
the Buddha's face
is wet

three minutes silence
into september sunshine
fall the people's tears

last night of the proms
in unison an ocean
red white and blue

everywhere I look   wounded sky

a dark September   sunset
my daughter asks   if this means war

I am in a state of shock re the horrendous terrorist attacks in the USA ... such loss of life, such devastation! It's beyond under- standing or belief!! 

My tears flow for all the victims and their loved ones, for everyone in the USA. If only I could embrace and comfort each suffering soul. Please know I hold you all in my prayers and thoughts and share your deep deep sorrow. May the Power of Love give you strength during this difficult time, dear friends. I offer my following sijo and haiku:
 

cries erupt around the world on this day when flowers fell 
terror thickens with black smoke   dreams lay crushed beneath debris
oh light of love hold to your breast each flower torn by evil hands 

 dark sun
 i hold your hand
 in thick black smoke

—  Elizabeth St Jacques, Canada