September 11, 2003
Jumpers
The Showtime network has an excellent show depicting a collection of short films by university students dealing with 9/11. All the films are available on their website.
Perhaps the most moving is the one that accompanies this poem:
From the 104th Floor
by Leda Rodis (age 14)
When the plane hit the building
rocked first
to the right
then
to the left,
and outside all the skyscrapers
of New York
seemed to tremble.
The alarms screamed louder
than we did, and I knew
it was time to get away. It's funny
what you notice:
a pen rolling across the floor
my screen saver flicker and go off
a picture of you
and me
at Coney Island.
So much to leave behind. And yet so little.
Running down the hall I remembered
my mother
taking me to the top
of the Empire
State Building when I was just
a little girl,
telling me that a plane
had crashed there a long
time ago. So I thought that maybe
that's
what happened. Just
an accident. And accidents
happen everyday.
Under the blown-out exit sign
a crowd
is screaming,
crying,
pounding
on the door.
I know:
There's
No
Way
Out.
You have to believe that I tried. I'm not the one
to give up.
Back at my desk, I rescue
the rolling pen,
stare
at the blank screen, and
hold
my picture
of you.
I look out
at the blue morning.
I expect
to see God there.
But what I really see is
another plane.
And I know what it means.
But I don't know why...
I always thought that life was full of choices.
It always has been.
What to wear
Where to eat
Who to love
(and you know who I chose).
Now my choices have been taken away from me.
The men in the planes have narrowed my choices
down
to
two:
Death by fire, or death by fall.
I see the smoke
rising
filling the room
It's hard to breathe
I look towards the open window.
What
would falling feel like?
I remember the roller coaster at Coney Island.
The wind tugging at my hair
How good it felt to scream.
The feeling in my stomach.
And how all the way down
I was with you.
Posted by Val Prieto at September 11, 2003 08:14 AM
Comments
That site with the videos only lets Americans in. Seriously. So I'm not allowed to grieve, because I live a few miles north.
Posted by: dowingba at September 11, 2003 10:34 AM
I'll be watching the videos later today. Maybe. I can't stop the tears falling after that poem.
Posted by: Dave at September 11, 2003 11:24 AM
Whatever kind of permanet memorial they finally put at ground zero, that poem should be on it.
I have not read any other poetry about 9/11 that so deeply reminds me of the most terrible thing I recall about that day, seeing all those people falling.
Posted by: Chris at September 11, 2003 02:48 PM
There just aren't words.
D
Posted by: David Strain at September 11, 2003 05:11 PM
This was the best poem I have ever read in my entire life. amazing.
Posted by: Jolene Manson at November 4, 2003 10:35 PM