Flames rose to the top of the building
Dirt and rubble layered the streets
The sights were harrowing
Dirt, cuts, scrapes, over battered bodies
Blood stains everywhere you looked

Police, rescue squads line the streets
Blockades are at every corner
Keeping bystanders from injury
Remembering can be an asset
But only . . . . . at times

I woke the morning of September 11th
Like any ordinary day of work in
One of the largest cities in the world
Quick breakfast of Frosted Mini-Wheats
Dressed, told my wife, kids I loved them
Walking out the door I had no idea that
Within hours, the world would change

Around 8:30 am I sat down in my office
Looking out of the large windows
I saw the renowned World Trade Center
In my crammed office space I began typing
An assignment my boss had given me

At 9:00 am I was on my last sentence
There was an abrupt, defining boom
Office shook as if there was an earthquake
The office emptied of all workers

Outside, we gazed up a thousand feet
Smoke began to fill the air
Everyone was in the same trance
Glass, debris started to rain down
People scattered, frantically
Looking for a place of refuge

Awestruck expressions, chaos in slow motion
Children and adults screaming in desperation
Sounds of sirens from police cars, endless
Falling objects crashing into buildings
Every minute seemed like eternity
Pinch me, wake up, tell me it's a dream


Within minutes another plane struck like a knife
As though someone hit a rewind button
Deciding to help, I began searching amongst
The piles of ash, debris, and rock
It didn't take long before an elderly gentleman
Who had been trapped by a fallen beam
Called out in a raspy voice,
'Help me, sir! Please, get me out!'

As I helped him, someone screamed
'It's going to fall! It's going to fall!'
Looking up at smoking towers
Fear swept over my entire body
I joined the mass of people running
As I ran I thought of my wife and kids
And I felt the tower fall

Avalanche of ash flowing down the streets
Draping everything in a dull grey
Days later I wonder why the attacks happened
About the gentleman, alone
My own fear kept me from helping him
Or was it my family that I wanted to see again
Should I have stayed with the distressed man?
Maybe things happen for a reason, but I wonder
Is it for the best, or will time only tell?