Social Question
What do you think of this poem?
Changed World
By K**** K****
2004
Planning finally complete
They knew there would be no retreat—
Upon their knees final prayers were said
Meditation to bring focus
On the battle ahead.
Nerves of steel, steady and unshaken
No remorse for the lives that would be taken.
Fulfillment of destiny was seen in their eyes
And their ears would not hear the mourners’ cries.
An evil entity had to be cast down.
Ruling the world with imperial beliefs,
The sovereignty would have to abdicate its crown.
Blinded by arrogance that it could not crumble,
The giant empire would be humbled.
Far from the city a girl is stirred
By a ringing phone.
Mother calls and displays an alarming tone—
There has been a calamity,
A tragedy of epic proportions.
Into the towers two big birds flew.
No survivors, not even the crew.
It must have been an accident, nothing of malicious intent,
The mechanical system must have failed
Or the pilot missed his descent.
Preparing for work I shift into second gear
The tasks of the day filling my head,
A stop at the bank is nothing to dread.
Jumping into the car with great surprise to my ear,
No songs from the speakers,
No tune or rhythm I hear.
The desperate tone of the announcer’s voice gave first clue.
More planes in the sky, with great menace they flew.
Rationale of premeditation would soon unfold—
Who on earth could be so bold?
We saw the unity of a nation in red, white and blue.
Never would the words “home of the brave” ring so true.
An attack on our empire could not keep us down,
From such atrocities we would rebound.
As we rebuilt, the psychological wounds ran deep
Enabling the perception of a vicarious enemy
Lying in every shadow just waiting to leap.
We turned our cautious eyes to suspicious men,
Security systems were raised
so a catastrophe could not happen again.
Insecurity swept across the land
Instilled by the wrath of Al-Queda’s hand.
Our sense of safety is forever gone,
But the tenacity of our great nation
will forge a new dawn.