We gazed upward and saw horror on the wind:
     they could’ve been us.

Surrealism ripped away our complacency
     and threw us down to earth:
billowing explosions; clouds of smoke & dust & ash.

We gazed upward to what vanished on the wind:
     they could’ve been us.

Shock diffused the nightmare of day,
     lifting the veil of our separation:
bodies falling hand-in-hand;desperate acts of hope.

We gaze upward seeking a memory on the wind:
     they could’ve been us.

Fierce bravery, unimaginable love, selfless sacrifice -
     the scorched field of our hearts sorrow -
now blessed as Sacred Ground.

A prayer rises with our love, a flag flutters with their breath:
     breathe in, breathe in their lives:
their souls surround us; they are now us - on the wind…

© Vicky M. Semones, 2001 Revised on the 15th anniversary, 9/11/2016