WTC Ashes in the Air

I am the dust in the air

the fallen ashes

in the wind

after a terrible disaster

I am joined in my heart and sorrow

with the souls whose bodies

shattered instantly

in a huge ball of exploding flame

I am in the tears and the fears that engulfed us all

as those towers came tumbling down

I am in the ashes that are our collective grief

I am in the hope that must follow

that we will learn a lesson of compassion and that wise decisions

that are capable of generating peace

will come forth from

the structures of power

that remained standing

I am alone today in my sorrow

my pain

and my desire to comfort the children

the families

the neighbors and friends

But I am with the

ashes that flew in the air

as we all stared

and released our hatred

and our fear

I am not happy

to sit here feeling

like I have nothing to do to help

But I am after all only one of millions

who was lucky not to be a victim

in this disastrous day that

has stopped us in our tracks

and forced us to see the thinness

of the wall between walking

on the solid earth one moment and flying

into the next to another life

as windswept

ashes in the air.

Chicago, September 12, 2001