IN MEMORY OF A BROWN-EYED-SUSAN
September spreads across the fields,
laying down a patchwork of crops
ready for gathering, clinging to the soil
for a lazy final season in the sun
before the harvest begins.
Fencerows and country roads
define the seams between
broad fields of milo and corn,
and long expanses of beans
still green, but poised to change
overnight to a shade of yellow
to rival the sun.
Along every country road,
next to every weathered barn,
I see clusters of brown-eyed-Susans
and remember another September,
when the sky was an impossible
shade of blue and time stopped
while the world watched in horror,
helpless, as planes flew into the heart
of a peaceful nation at slumber.
What was Susan doing that day
on the ninety-ninth floor of a tower
in Manhattan, so far from home?
Why did that brown-eyed beauty
from the Midwest share her last smile
with strangers before the planes hit?
Did they know how rare and special
her spirit was? How sunshine
sprang from her gentle laughter?
Did anyone really know the tragedy
which stalked her that day?
Did her brilliant dark eyes conceal
the recent death of a young cousin
back home in Illinois, or the untimely
demise of an uncle years before?
Were any they aware her father,
a war veteran and firefighter,
also died before his time,
in a tangle of wreckage
at the crest of a distant hill
one bitter cold winter night?
Did they know her dad was there
that terrible morning in September,
unable to rescue her, but waiting
to receive her in his arms?
America mourns the thousands
of lives extinguished that day.
We vow that none will be forgotten.
Their names are spoken each year,
their stories told, their pictures cherished,
and in homes across the entire land,
where the fields turn once again
to shades of gold, we pause to pray
for those we knew and loved,
and for strangers caught in the storm
of heat and fire and dust and noise,
people who should not have died
beneath the warm September skies.
When the prairies bloom,
hundreds of miles from New York City,
and the first leaves drop each fall,
on fields in Illinois where she was born,
I will think of my friend, Susan,
that sweet, brown eyed flower
who bloomed brightly, but too briefly,
and I will always ask why.
Author notes
This poem is for Susan Sauer of Wheaton, Illinois who died at the World Trade Center. She was a friend, neighbor and one time co-worker of mine. Sadly, her father who was a firefighter died in a tragic accident several years before she did. Both of them were very special people who should have enjoyed long, happy, productive lives. Susan brought sunshine into the lives of all who knew her.
N.B. This is a prewritten poem, but for reasons unknown to me, I cannot access my old poems through the AP system and must cut and paste and enter them as new ones.
A contest entry
- Tribute To 9/11 by Talking Toni.
1200 points, ended October 11, 40 entries
Honorable winner
• next poem in this contest, remove from contest
Comments
1 - 7 of 7
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Poets
Thru my tears I feel such a deep appreciation for your words of love towards Susan. It seems many hearts were touched and shattered that day. I pray we never forget but fear we are.
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This poem is delivered through a walk with Nature and then turns to a poignant theme, using the framework of flowery imagery either end.
Your powem echoes around the Democratic world; have no fear. Lovely work. Ron.
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omg that is such a sad poem. I'm so sorry for your lose. Nice work
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Stunning tribute. I love the opening structure where you tie feelings to the concrete grace of seasons and nature.
I was speaking today with my best friend about how our health is a refelction of how we operater and share in a group. You show this graphically and stunningly and so make her a part of all of us so the loss becomes personal. Never maudlin or overly dramatic, just the straight forward human being who is within reach of all of us and lives in all of us who call ourselves human. Human, we honor one another and never forget that every loss makes us all less. The gravitas and weight of this piece never strikes until at the end when the wave of your words has passed I am left, a little hollow and deeply moved.
Peace & Light,
Tom B.
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Lovely Tribute...
You keep your friend Susans's memory alive with this loving tribute...By the way, I am so sorry for your loss,no one should have lost their life in such a barbaric way as that day...Thanks for your lovely entry and the best of luck in my contest!!!~~Toni~~
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Thank you for your kind words. Susan was very special and her life touched so many others. I am sure that was true of others who died that day. There are probably very few people who were not touched by that tragedy in one way or another.
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still wrenching
Good luck in the contest.
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