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.