Member-only story
After All
Sep 14, 2022
Originally written in the weeks after September 11, 2001, and revised on September 14, 2022.
Are we struck sitting by the TV,
Waiting for the next plane to drop,
As the coffee goes cold and the dog sleeps in muffles?
The bewilderment will stop,
Some ease will return, but first —
Funerals and fulmination,
Soft counts into thousands and
Overloaded circuits.
None of this makes you stronger,
Perhaps more interesting.
You bear witness and share stories.
After all is done, life stutters on —
Some of life’s events wash warmly,
Some may shake and sting.
Decide which ones sustain you.
