The Poem That Came Two Weeks Late

By Ceci Ellis

Maybe a day or so late, but some things can't be written in the moment. This is one of them.

I wrote The Day the Skies Fell Silent about two weeks after September 11th, not in those first days when the same footage was looping on every channel, twenty-four/seven. Grief that raw doesn't leave much room for language, much less creative language. It took that long before any words organized enough to call a poem actually showed up. After a few days, I noticed how quiet everything was. It seemed to me even songbirds decided to not sing out of respect.

And just like the actual writing of the poem, I'm posting it now, a week or so past this year's anniversary. It wasn't written on the day either. Some things earn the right to arrive late.

A night time view of a tribute to the Twin Towers (Stock image)

The Day the Skies Fell Silent

Birds of steel became their birds of prey,
On that clear and bright September Day.
Roaring loudly to their target they lighted.
Stunned and bloodied, our nation blighted.
Concrete, steel and flesh they tore,
The burning sacrifice, their holy war.
Petty bickering fell to silence,
Awestruck at incredible violence.
Birds of song stopped their play,
As the world fell silent on that day.
Those remaining, with mournful eyes,
Turned fearful towards abandoned skies.
No winged creatures dared to fly,
While doors slammed shut against evil nigh.
Far below on tainted soil,
Humans began their silent toil.
Then, through the air so still and silent,
Began a chorus, clear and defiant.
Singing of our Patriot's Dream,
Our Stars and Stripes forever gleam.
They knocked us down, but not for long,
United we are, still standing strong.

Twenty-five years later, I noticed how much of the poem is built on birds, real ones and the terrible, twisted use of the word for what came out of the sky that morning. I didn't set out to write about birds. It's just what came out when I sat down to write about that day, and looking back now, knowing how much of my life ended up caring so much for actual birds.