this is a day that I would prefer to stay home
curtains closed
tv off
walls up
cause the mental energy is flowing strong currents through me right now
i remember
i remember balloons and wrapped doors
and early morning wake up calls
when this day dawned with celebration
i remember
i remember that final solitary celebration
i woke and greeted the same ordinary type of day
i could hear my sis from the other side of the wall
the tv clicked on and i groused about not wanting to hear
the noise
in a moment, both our lives changed
the day the two towers fell
9/11
i remember
i remember walking the streets of NYC
in the months before the towers fell
an amazing journey
a student exchanged
hopes and dreams bubbled the air
as winter yielded to the springtime
i didn’t want to leave
walking through Washington Square
among the people of New York
breathing deeply the scent of cornerstand coffee and roasted peanuts
i asked for a sign
i remember
stillness
the world muted around me and a lone butterfly
in that moment I knew
it was time to go home
but on the day the two towers fell
i remembered that i left a piece of myself
right there
in the streets of New York
and the pain still sits in a knot deep within my chest
this is a day i would prefer to stay home
curtains closed
tv off
walls up
but i remember how we all rose up
in the days after the two towers fell
so i’ll ride that current today and do what is hard
in memory of those we lost
on 9/11
Marta C. Youngblood is a writer, education and social entrepreneur based in Hot Springs, Arkansas. For more information on her current projects visit https://about.me/MCyoungblood.
