Malificent Memories Mixed with Exhaustive Elations poetry by Michael F. Nyiri September 11, 2002 5:26 am pdt On the one hand, waking to the sounds of birds outside my bedroom window, A dark cloud covers existence. It is the eleventh of September, and at first memory is clouded with sleep. And then memory returns. And then remembering the pain and sorrow compounded with time's hammer Remembering the gaping maw of humanity's naivete When played out in my brain's tape recorder Of those terrible events which happened just one year ago I am saddened And reduced to silence and introspection again For the millionth time since that horrible day. And on the other hand, Looking forward to my 30 year highschool reunion this weekend A reunion for which tentative plans had begun last year at this very same time A reunion forgotten quickly last year in the dusty rubble of the towers Will proceed a year hence, hopeful and humbling A bit of happy reverie inserted into the chaotic tumble of time One hand, a tragedy, and sadness And on the other, elation and an elevated sense of purpose for having survived this long looking forward for connections with the past. That's life, the poets sing. That's life, remembering And death, which follows life, is sad and sorrowful, but is of course the last fact of life And when one tries to sort the sad from the happy, and the meaning from the meaningless It sometimes seems so difficult But each day is another steppingstone to the ultimate truth And someday all questions will be answered. But in the meantime, On the one hand, I will grieve for humanity's losses On the other I will celebrate humanity's successes A moment of silence Listening to the song of the birds Outside my window this morning |
