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{"It is one of the mysteries of our nature that a man,
all unprepared,
can receive a thunder-stroke like that and live.
There is but one reasonable explanation of it.
The intellect is stunned by the shock
and but gropingly gathers the meaning of the words.
The power to realize their full import is mercifully lacking."
- Mark Twain.}
All the talking plastic faces from your fancy television screens seem to want to have their say on September 11th today. I ... I almost could not bring myself to speak on it. Not on this day.
The dark winds of the Shadowlands are filled with the wailing of the lost souls remembering the horror, panic, and fear of their dying.
The shadows will soon be quiet. I look about the land of the living and know most will have shrugged off the remembrance aside by tomorrow ... if it has even occurred to them today.
Old news. Bills to pay. Lives to live.
There is too much tragedy each heartbeat of each day for us to hold onto any one moment of keening for long ... especially if it is not our pain.
No pain is so easy to bear as the other fellow's.
Yet the world is drowning in tragedy.
The rain forests are still burning, and our attention span has turned off the smoke detectors.
An African child's emancipated face wails on our TV screen, and we change the channel.
The Twin Towers were gutted by planes filled with screaming passengers.
And today a mosque for the faith whose zealots masterminded the mass murder has been erected right by the site.
Each day we pass individuals who are struggling with their own private 9-11, and we hurry by, perhaps irritated by their slow pace or distant, inward directed eyes.
We honor the valiant, the orphaned, and the murdered of 9-11 when we remember that tragedy has a very long shelf-life
and act with compassion towards each person we meet, knowing that everyone is having a harder time than they appear.
***
all unprepared,
can receive a thunder-stroke like that and live.
There is but one reasonable explanation of it.
The intellect is stunned by the shock
and but gropingly gathers the meaning of the words.
The power to realize their full import is mercifully lacking."
- Mark Twain.}
All the talking plastic faces from your fancy television screens seem to want to have their say on September 11th today. I ... I almost could not bring myself to speak on it. Not on this day.
The dark winds of the Shadowlands are filled with the wailing of the lost souls remembering the horror, panic, and fear of their dying.
The shadows will soon be quiet. I look about the land of the living and know most will have shrugged off the remembrance aside by tomorrow ... if it has even occurred to them today.
Old news. Bills to pay. Lives to live.
There is too much tragedy each heartbeat of each day for us to hold onto any one moment of keening for long ... especially if it is not our pain.
No pain is so easy to bear as the other fellow's.
Yet the world is drowning in tragedy.
The rain forests are still burning, and our attention span has turned off the smoke detectors.
An African child's emancipated face wails on our TV screen, and we change the channel.
The Twin Towers were gutted by planes filled with screaming passengers.
And today a mosque for the faith whose zealots masterminded the mass murder has been erected right by the site.
Each day we pass individuals who are struggling with their own private 9-11, and we hurry by, perhaps irritated by their slow pace or distant, inward directed eyes.
We honor the valiant, the orphaned, and the murdered of 9-11 when we remember that tragedy has a very long shelf-life
and act with compassion towards each person we meet, knowing that everyone is having a harder time than they appear.
***
Watching that video bring tears to my eyes. I had just walked into work (and in our lobby we had a large screen TV) and I saw the replay of the 1st plane hitting the buildings.
ReplyDeleteIt was too direct for it to be a mistake. I was scared, thinking, surely we will retaliate. Thankfully we didn't.
Anytime many perish without warning through the machinations of war is a sad day for humanity. No matter who causes it.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't bear to turn on the T.V. this morning knowing what I'd be bombarded with.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
Tweeted and FB'd.
Mentioned you on my post today.
Hugs and chocolate,
Shelly
http://www.shellysnovicewritings.blogspot.com/
D.G.:
ReplyDeleteMy fingers zigged when they should have zagged in my earlier comment.
Yes, I was working for the blood center when it happened. It was a shocking blow. The only reason that we did not retaliate immediately I feel was that there was no clear target.
Ooof!
Samuel Clemens, here, ah his ghost actually. I had to shove the boy away from his laptop.
I wanted to agree with you about the sadness of killing your fellow man for some benighted reason or other.
Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities,
War.
He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood...
to exterminate his kind.
He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out...
and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel...
And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for "the universal brotherhood of man"
--with his mouth.
(Nudging Sam's ghost aside)
Thanks, D.G. for commenting and revealing a depth of heart so few have these days, Roland
Thanks, Shelly:
ReplyDeleteI'm just heading out the door or I would go to your blog right now. Thank you for mentioning me. You are a gem, Roland
And the rest is silence.
ReplyDeleteI hope I don't have to turn on the TV to see it again. It's like a knife to us but to others it was the grave.:(
ReplyDeleteI won't be turning on the TV today. I remember watching it live after the first plane struck and that's all I need.
ReplyDeleteThank you Roland, for your thoughts on this day.
ReplyDeleteIt's a tough day, and one we'll never forget. What's always strange to me is when I talk to my oldest daughter and realize she wasn't alive when it happened. It's our Pearl Harbor. :o| <3
ReplyDeleteBeautifully said my friend. As long as those such as you and I live, they will not be forgotten.
ReplyDeleteQuite a haunting, yet beautiful post. I couldn't bring myself to watch the video, nor have I turned on the TV today. My dark half is visiting today, and I'm hoping she gets the hell out of here soon. She's ruining my day. I think any amount of sadness would do me in. It's just one of those days.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your willingness to share with us your thoughts about that tragic day.
LD:
ReplyDeleteNo words can do justice to this day.
The Desert Rocks:
A sad fact: the TODAY show instead of covering NY's memorial for 9-11 replaced it with an interview with Mrs. Kardashian about her breast implants.
The ghost of Mark Twain muttered, "Concerning the difference between man and the jackass:
some observers hold that there isn't any.
But this wrongs the jackass.
Alex:
I remember watching it "live" myself. Sad.
Lydia:
I couldn't be light on this day.
Leigh:
Some remember the day Kennedy was shot. We will remember the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Sigh.
Heather:
Such thunder-struck pain should be remembered and be reflected upon. You are a gem.
Candy:
I hope I did not give your darker half dominion over your heart today. Life is precious. Today is a gift to be cherished and its beauty focused upon with graditude.
Victor wants to share his prayer with you:
“May those who love us love us,
And those who do not love us,
May God turn their hearts,
And if He cannot turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles
That we may know them by their limping.”
Victor blows a kiss your way to cheer your day -- humble he isn't! :-)
Very well said. We all are in so much of a hurry that we don't stop and pause long enough to see endless tragedy in all directions
ReplyDelete