September 11, 2001
8:46 am
Sipping my coffee -
the shudder I feel,
is unlike anything,
I’ve ever experienced before;
there is fire in the sky,
ashes, then smoke in the air.
I stand - at first,
with curiosity,
some of the others,
make telephone calls.
I observe,
as co-workers look out
through their windows -
at debris floating down,
hundreds of stories over Manhattan.
Alarms start to sound.
We move for the stairs,
orderly - even cheerfully,
yet - a feeling of terror
runs fast through
my body - this is real,
terribly, truthfully,
real.
Into the stairwell - going down,
the heat is unbearable -
we stop,
move up again -
finally out,
breathless,
now running
to a second stairwell,
there are forty behind me,
men and women,
people I’ve known,
people of all ages
and in a kind of
slow motion moment,
I look to their eyes,
where I see recognition,
apprehension and fear -
as fate has it’s way with us.
The second door is an oven,
too hot to open -
my hand drops immediately,
with sorrow, then surrender.
We are trapped,
in this building,
with fire at our feet,
and sky in our faces;
there are screams now and tears,
total hysteria -
windows are broken
and panic takes over.
As I write these last words,
there is a terrible rumble,
the floor tips
and shivers,
friends jump to their death;
yet I -
sit propped here -
quiet and still,
holding a crying woman,
tearful and terrified.
the building smokes and sways,
I see fire in the sky,
In the walls,
in the floors,
and I know that this,
may be,
the moment before death -
just seconds before throwing,
these last words out to you,
my most vivid memories,
flying through a broken window,
into the morning blue sky,
as tears floating down,
to cleanse the sweet earth.
I want my last thoughts,
and my last blurry words written to be,
words of love -
thoughts of love -
love for our children –
love of life.
J.E. Dorsey aka Doug Claybourne
With love and respect for each of those 2996 people that died not knowing that September 11 would be their last day on earth. Each a light for us to discover peace out of the ashes.
J.E. Dorsey is the pen name for Doug Claybourne – J.E. Dorsey was Doug’s grandfather and this is the way Doug keeps him alive in his memory.
Copyright © 2001 thru 2011. J.E. Dorsey aka Doug Claybourne. All Rights Reserved.
