I have my blade. It feels hard. I can’t stop shaking.

I feel sick, but for my country, I’ll do it.

Look at them, not a fucking care in the world, sleeping still.

Going back to a country full of chaos (breathes deep)

Help me. I will find strength in this cause.

This is it. I must do this. I can’t fail.

This plane is too quiet. We’re almost to New York.

Almost time. Stay strong.

This is what I worked so hard for

The honor. Stay faithful. Do not deter.

Fierce. Maintain control.

They can’t stop me. They won’t stop me.

My life is meaningless—the cause is everything.

(Shaun L.)

It’s too cold in this room.

I’m still so tired.

I’ve been here way too long

But my time’s almost up

What? The room is shaking

Sounded like a bomb. Shit.

I’m getting colder. I need

to get to the stairs.

No one else has started

running. I gotta move.

Out of my way! They won’t budge.

She’s getting hurt.

But I’m sure she’s okay.

Smoke. Too much smoke in here.

I gotta get out of here.

I’m back in my office

The room is still shaking.

Or am I? It’s both.

It’s smoking in here

Everyone went up. No.

There’s a man grabbing the fire extinguisher.

What’s he doing, what am I doing?

I have to get downstairs

run to the elevators. I’m shaking.

(Shaun L.)

I was pissed at the fact that I had

to trek all the way to the fuckin’ Bronx.

Takin’ the goddamn 6 train is a real

pain all mornin’ long—any day of the week.

So there I am, waitin’ for this

Dominican grocery store owner

to sign for the package.

For christsake! Can he be any slower.

What are you doin’?

Readin’ the fine print on the package slip? Geezus.

Then I hear it

“Prende la television, Jorge!!

Algo está pasando downtown!”

The guy in the back of the store

Yelled at the guy I was waitin’ for

to turn the TV on ‘cause somethin’

was happenin’ downtown.

When the little TV screen on the other side of

the counter lit up—I saw one of the Towers

bellowin’ smoke from on top

What the _____?

I thought some idiot must of

been given his Pilot’s license

for cryin’ out loud.

We stood there

starin’

then

another plane

smacked into the other Tower!

This wasn’t no freakin’ accident!

Me and Jorge stared at each other

in disbelief.

Getting’ back to Manhattan was

gonna be a bitch!

(José M.)

I was rushing to get ready for school that morning.

The morning the airplane hit the two towers,

I ran into my parents’ room

in search of a lost hair-band.

Silly urgency

They were both frozen

staring at the television.

“ A plane crashed into the World Trade Center,”

my father told me.

Now that’s an unfortunate accident. Awful

I thought to myself.

As I watched, one tower fell before my eyes

on that TV screen.

How horrible

Before I knew it, the second tower was hit

and it fell too.

What technical malfunction is responsible for

this? I wondered.

Such a tragedy.

Oh, it wasn’t an accident

was the next piece of news.

Even more horrible

Who could do this?

Who could plan such an intentional plot of death?

Who hated the U.S. this much?

I’m going to be hearing about this for

a long time

I thought

to myself.

This will go down in history.

I never found my hair-tie

not important anymore.

(Jenny F.)

I was still asleep that morning when it happened.

I didn’t watch TV or listen to the radio.

It wasn’t until I went downstairs in the elevator

to try to catch

the early train, so I could stop at Starbucks before work

that Mr. Flynn from the 1^st floor

told me I wouldn’t be going to work that day

or stopping at Starbucks

or taking the train at all.

At first I didn’t think about the jeans I folded

or the dresses on the racks

or the cash in the safety deposit box, ready for the bank in a zippered bag

All of it flaming up like a little forest under fluorescent lights.

I had spent the morning getting pretty, straightening

my hair, zipping up my black ankle boots

and was so upset

that it had all been such a waste.

(Rachel F.)

Oh my God. A group of men have emerged with box cutters

and they’re demanding our cooperation or else

they will blow up this flight. Fear prickling like

a thousand needles, and I can’t feel my body.

To my left and right sit Pa and little brother.

Their eyes are also white with fear. Time crystallized and

I’m overwhelmed with nostalgia. Is this going to be

my last hour? What about my mother?

I forgot to kiss her good by this morning. Will

Joey ever forgive me for crashing his car?

Millions of thoughts run through my mind

like a lotus infestation. The men are

entering the captain’s cabin, and they’re stabbing the pilot.

I leap to my feet.

(Don N.)

Oh shit! No way! Ah Man! Mom! Mom!

I heard through my floor.

I’m in trouble, here I go down, down,

down, Slowly turning the door knob.

I hear, Yodel, come quick. A plane just

went into one of the Towers.

I’m “What and, Oh shit! No way!”

All of a sudden, “Check it out.

Another plane just his the other Tower.

What’s going on? I don’t get it. Me neither.

Mom! Otro avion choca en la otra terre.

Jesus, Que esta pasando y porque

esta in toda las noticias.

The planes’ scenes are done with and I leave

I stop at Ralph’s and I tell the clerk,

Two planes crashed into the Twin Towers in

New York. The guy behind me says,

And one in the Pentagon. We say,

What? I’m, “What’s going on?”

And off to work I go.

At work I hear a co-worker say,

Should have crashed into the Statue of Liberty.

(Yolanda P.)

I thought I had the easiest job in the world

Something happens, I report it.

That’s my job and that’s what I do…

I’m not a bad reporter either

I don’t think…

But how can I possibly bear this news long enough to report it?

Can’t I be used in some other way?

Suddenly the story about all the local

car robberies doesn’t seem that boring…

I’d give anything to be reporting that story now…

Anything but this

My God… how do I even begin?

(Julio R.)

The tall man

the one with the knife

I had a feeling something wasn’t

right with him.

He kept looking around

nervously and fidgety

When the time came

the time for our destruction

he stood up

ferocity in his eyes

and death in his voice

I knew then

that I would never see my

baby girl

I would never feel

her soft pudgy arms

around my neck.

In that moment

I feared for our world

I knew that America’s comfort

would be permanently tampered with

and my baby girl

would not have a mother

to keep her warm

and protect her

from the fate

of the world.

(Sarah S.)

I woke up to complete silence that morning which was unusual in my house.

The running around and hurriedness were replaced by somber quiet. I walked

into the living room and found my parents

glued to the TV with a confused, “is-this-really-happening” look on their face.

I didn’t say a word and just sat down in between the both of them on the couch.

Hearing the news anchor say that yet another plane had hit the building

brought the reality of what was going on. My mother said, “Thank God

Mike flew home last week from the city.”

I immediately felt guilty for thinking the same thing.

Someone else’s brother was on that plane.

(Salina D.)

Tall black and white, non-fat

hazelnut and toffee nut, please

EXTRA HOT…

And hurry, I’m late!

The machine grinded and roared

as if the gates of Hell had erupted,

The steam filled the air

and I nearly suffocated

for my early morning fix.

The lights flickered

like lightning…

I wish they would change

like lightning…

I wish they would change the damn bulbs,

And hurry the hell up

Finally my drink, so warm and familiar

I take a sip…

sour like week-old milk

I turn around and

my world crumbles

Hell had showed up

My fix is dismissed

I bend to clean the spill.

(Chiqueena L.)

Damn, I know now what that explosion was 2 floors up.

I can feel the flames inching their way towards me.

Nowhere to run.

The broken window in front of me sucking me out like a vacuum,

but the soothing breeze cools the itching burn

clawing its way up my back.

Why?

Has Hell finally found me for all the bad things I’ve done?

No more room in my mind for unanswerable questions.

I can feel all my thoughts bubbling up and

my memories vaporizing.

No better choice.

I choose the easy way out.

I choose the cool, soothing wind,

I choose the sky.

(Rocky M.)

I woke up with heavy eyelids that morning.

My backpack filled with books I don’t

care about, and the school I damn

well don’t give a squat about, but both

I was forced to make friends with.

Just then the special report came on the news,

Plane going clear through the tallest building

in New York, then another.

For a moment I thought how can America, the

strongest country on earth be so vulnerable;

And the pictures of people plunging themselves

below the burning inferno, left by two planes

made me realize even more that America can

be defenseless, and that there are countries

that hate America enough to do something like this.

Since then the American flags I rarely saw

are seen everywhere: on the house, on the car,

and even on the shirts of many Americans with

“God bless America” on them like the whole world

is “with America,” even when it comes to other

countries killing the people of different colors

the same way they killed Americans on 9/11.

Sure I have no way of understanding the hearts

of the victims and the bereaved.

But neither can I fathom the pain and anguish of

the people in the Middle East dying by the hands of

the Americans. You’d call me a traitor for feeling

sympathy for these people perhaps,

all these foreigners with different religions and creeds.

But hey, I’m that foreigner too.

(Hyunwoo/Gus S.)

I’m up early, on my way to work

at the café,

the turn-and-burn, hustle-bustle

town breakfast joint,

usually,

but not today.

I first hear the news on the radio,

an airplane has accidentally

crashed into the twin towers

oh, how tragic, I hope everyone is ok.

They’re not…

The restaurant is dead

A few people quietly eat their breakfast

and go.

A TV’s been set up by the front counter

We watch, no one speaks,

Only shake their heads and sigh.

WHAT? AGAIN?

This is no accident! THEN AGAIN!

How could this be?

Osama bin who?

I don’t know anyone in NY

or at the Pentagon.

It doesn’t matter, I cry anyway

I cry for all those people

the friends and family they left behind

I cry for our country, our way of life

so hated by those who plotted against us.

The world is quiet,

and cold

and sad

and lonely.

(Natalie S.)

It’s not that I’m an uncaring person

I just remember I was distracted—I was trying to

prepare for my freshman comp class.

A colleague, Sandra, came in—I heard her say, “A plane

just crashed in the World Trade Center.”

Sitting in front of my computer at Western Carolina University, I tried to remember

--the World Trade Center, where was it?

I went back to prepping for class.

Then Gayle arrived, “A plane just crashed into the World Trade Center.”

I left my office, headed to the electronic classroom to meet my freshmen.

CNN was on; my students and I watched

transfixed—before our eyes, people jumped to their deaths,

a second plane sliced the Towers,

one of my students left in tears; her father was at the

Pentagon.

(Dr. Warner)

Shit. My stomach’s in my throat.

It feels like the time we tried to land at JFK

during Hugo. Or was it Doris?

back in k985

when the storm whipped the plane

and several of us screamed.

I threw up

into my Frankfurter Allgemein

but this time I have sons

and the reality of dying

when they storm the cockpit and attack these

terrorists

is real. Inevitable even.

The guy with the phone said

two planes have hit the WTC Towers.

Planes filled with people

mothers, daughters, lovers, friends

And here I sit, all those things.

Who will raise my boys?

Who will raise the orphans from this nightmare?

There’s nothing to be done.

Nothing but sit here and wait.

With my heart pounding in my ears,

my stomach in my throat.

(Jeannine B-U.)

“I just called, to say, I love you”

My husband woe me from a dream early that morning.

I thought it was weird

that he would call so early.

That thought quickly passed

when I realized the desperate tone in his voice.

He told me,

“I love you.”

Then,

he hung up.

I got up from bed, took a shower and

turned the TV on to the morning show.

There, I saw it:

the Twin Towers crumbling down,

shattering

the same way my heart did

when I realized

my husband

just called me

from the plane.

(Alerie F.)

My seat was 15D

across, and down one row in 14C,

sat a man.

He was fidgeting

clasping and unclasping

his sweaty hands.

His eyes darted

nervously

each time a fellow passenger

laughed or coughed or sneezed.

I felt sorry for him.

I thought he was afraid

afraid of flying.

As we crossed the Pacific

the captain’s voice came over the loudspeaker:

“We are now entering New York.”

14C seemed to calm.

I figured because he knew he would be

landing soon.

How wrong I was

I leaned across 15E to look out the window.

The beautiful twin towers climbed into the sky,

the sun glinting off them

like a beacon of hope.

There was a shout from the back of the plane.

14C jumped up and followed men running

toward the cockpit.

In a matter of seconds,

the co-pilot stumbled out of the cockpit,

bleeding.

He announced the captain was dead

Our plane had been taken by terrorists

Women screamed

Children cried

Men jumped up and headed for the cockpit

valiantly trying to save us all.

Seconds later, the nose of the plane

was pointed toward the towers.

(Jennifer J.)

My alarm goes off and on comes the radio

“Airplane crashes into Twin Towers”

I thought I was still dreaming

so I look at the clock once more

and listen to what is being said:

“About 10 minutes ago an American Airlines

plane crashed into one of the Twin Towers”

I storm out of bed and tell my mom,

in shock

we race to the TV

one of the towers in flames

Another plane appears on the screen

The other tower now is flames

I don’t understand what I see

They said one plane had crashed

and now there are two planes that have crashed

can this really be?

Both the towers engulfed in flames

A tragedy happening before our eyes

I get ready for school and

Listen to the radio in the car

Two more plane crashes

one in Washington

one in Pennsylvania

I get to school and still in a state of shock

I go to my first class then

school is cancelled

I go home and stare at the TV

shocked by these events

I don’t understand what happened

(Julia K.)

It was a typical morning.

The alarm clock went off

I reluctantly got out of bed and

flipped on the radio.

Music always made getting dressed

more fun.

There was no music that

morning—

only worried voices of announcers

reporting something about New York City.

A plane flew into a building?

I went across the hall to my

parent’s room, my mom had the

TV on.

There is was

one of the twin towers with a

gaping hole.

I asked my mom what happened,

she didn’t know.

No one did.

Then moments later the second plane

hit the second tower…

this was no accident.

The reporters called it

“terrorism.”

We called my dad, to see if he

knew

He did.

He hung up with us to call my

grandparents…

He was worried about our family in

New York

were they in Manhattan when the

city was attacked?

All day long our eyes were glued to

the television.

(Amanda M.)

Oh, my God!

The door to the elevator won’t open

same with the door to the stairs.

We’re here—on the eightieth floor.

How can we get out?

Can we get out?

Will someone get up here to save us?

No.

Oh, my God!

We’re going to die—up here in the smoke and flames.

No.

There must be a way.

There has to be a way.

I want to see my wife, hold my children.

Oh my God!

Bill is breaking a window with a chair.

Good. It will give us some fresh air.

That’s a big hole he’s made.

That’ll help.

Oh my God!

Bill jumped—just jumped out.

He’s dead.

Bill’s dead.

He jumped to avoid the flames.

He jumped so he would not burn to death.

He jumped because he would pass out in

the fall and avoid the pain—the slow

horrible pain.

Now Sue is jumping.

No!

This can’t be happening.

All this can’t be happening.

We should be discussing quarterly results.

The flames are now so near, so unbearably hot.

What can I do? What can I do?

I need to follow Bill.

(David M.)

Strange thing is I woke up first that morning.

Me, the one who’s almost always late

for school, late for breakfast on Sunday, the one who always

has to take the cold shower.

Why did I wake up from a dead sleep and

flip on the television, the worst thing I have ever seen

on every channel.

No one questioned my frantic

barge into their room—Mom,

Dad, brother, they just gathered

Around the TVs with undivided attention.

Watching in disbelief as the plane hit the second tower.

My father snapped out of our collective trance first;

he said, “We need to pray because I need to leave.”

I put my daughter in his arms as he

said the fireman’s prayer and we

all clutched arms as we said the

Our Father.

Dry-eyed and dazed we watched

my dad leave to do what he could.

What could he do?

He should have stayed home to protect us.

(Danyelle O.)

The morning’s still warm in early fall/late summer

I take a break up top

outside in the roof garden

where workers are allowed

gardens. “Worker morale,”

management labels it,

letting stiff-suit stock brohers

cultivate a more creative side.

The machine only had Twinkies again—

I have the damn Twinkies…

That plane seems close to Tower One at WTC.

They always seem close at that

height, but it’s headed straight…

Months go by. I tell my shrink

I wish New York were a metropolis,

where looking “up in the sky” a citizen

would sigh relieved as once again

he who changes the course of mighty rivers

changes the course of commercial jets.

Not in New York, not again

or even for the second time

as Tower Two’s demise had cemented

my existential debut.

I hear my clients screaming,

“Sell! Sell!” as others prompt

a buying curve to keep American

strong.

(Chuck S.)

I saw the man sitting in the row

ahead of me. He looked normal,

not like a typical “terrorist” and he

acted normal. Nothing was out of

the ordinary. Just a plane ride

back home to New York. I came

to see my brother. He was getting

married. I was supposed to be

at the rehearsal dinner. But that

never happened. The last thing I

remember is everyone screaming

and the man ahead of me taking

control over the plane and

leading us toward the Twin

Towers. The hit, the fire,

and then it went black.

(Rebecca F.)

I was just finishing typing up the report for my presentation tomorrow.

I was just about to hit enter and print it,

when I heard this horrible sound, and out my window

on the 8^th floor of Tower Two, I see it…

The other Tower of the World Trade Center was hit,

and there was only chaos surrounding it.

Everything went quiet and I froze, just

staring blankly out the window.

Within a blink of an eye, time began to pick up speed.

I didn’t bother to finish printing,

I just grabbed my cell phone and wallet along

with the picture of my family and made way for the stairs.

I immediately pressed speed dial #2 to call my wife.

It rang 3 times before she answered,

and I was on the 6^th floor.

I was numb to the noise out side, and could only hear her voice.

I said, “I love you, don’t worry, I’m on my way out.”

Down to the 5^th floor.

I said, “I love you” again. I don’t remember how many times.

I saw the plaque with the #3 on it; I was

almost there… then the cell phone went dead.

(Tasia T.)

My English teacher turned on the television

that morning.

I didn’t know

what was happening.

The news reports kept

repeating the same scene

over and over

again.

A plane crashes.

Smoke.

People crying.

Horror in their faces.

Chaos.

My teacher was devastated.

No words.

My classmates in

shock.

Why would anyone do that?

they asked.

No answer.

We kept looking at the screen,

trying to find answers

to the day

that changed

Americans.

They had stabbed the heart

of the country.

But failed

to break us.

(Grissel E.)

I was walking along the sidewalk

walking towards those Twin Towers

glancing at my cell phone every

couple seconds

waiting

waiting for Lucy’s name to appear on

its small screen

waiting for her call

to tell me she was on her break

to meet me for lunch

in front of those Twin Towers where she worked.

Over the honking and people talking

Over the rough idling engines of cars

I heard a loud roar above me

something I did not recognize.

Then I saw the plane

so close and massive

collide with one of those Twin Towers

I stopped, not believing what I was

watching

Everyone stopped; seconds passed in silence

Then screams pierced my eardrum

I could not move

No one cold

The building began falling

Most people ran

But I couldn’t

Where was Lucy?

I watched as a massive wave

of brown and gray

roared towards me

engulfing everything.

Lucy…?

(Kris M.)

My girlfriend always told me I was a robot

At my old job, I had been voted

the guy that should be working

if we ever got robbed

because I wouldn’t react.

I’d hand over the cash

and go about my day.

I’d never been in a position

where reaction was so important

and yet there I was

sitting in my chair

in a tin box in the sky

finally living proof of the chaos theory

Yet I’d always hoped the unforeseeable

held beauty

and this felt so ugly

My mind was drowned in reaction

and my body in a cold sweat of inaction

and I didn’t know how others would understand

if I couldn’t

(Mike E.)

I was still half asleep when I heard

about the attacks on the World Trade Center.

It didn’t register in my mind until

I began watching the footage in

physics class.

It was 2^nd period—we were all stunned.

I vividly remember seeing the people on television

billions times more stunned that I will ever be

crowned by the freshly fallen ash

from the sky.

I could only think about how

good it would feel to take a shower.

(Diana N.)

What a day. Had to change from my favorite shirt

when I got peanut butter on it making Claire’s lunch.

She didn’t cry today.

She hugged me and skipped into her class.

Smiling. Kindergarten.

Tonight I’ll make her favorite dinner—

hot dogs and tater tots

with lots of ketchup.

There’s so much work to be done.

Not enough hours in the day.

Boy, that plane is flying awfully low. It’s

going to hit the building!

Dear Lord!

What’s happening? Oh my God!

Too many sounds. Think. Claire!

I need to go home. I need to go home.

There’s fires at the stairs.

How am I going to get out?

Tonight

I have to make Claire’s favorite.

She didn’t cry.

(Lindsey C.)

Oh my God! What was that?

It was so loud that whole

building shook.

An explosion.

Here?

In the tower?

Smoke. There’s smoke coming

through the vents.

The building must be on fire.

I don’t see anything.

It’s too far up.

I’ve got to get to the elevator.

No, not the elevator.

We’re not supposed to use the elevator.

Oh my God!

People are screaming.

What’s happening?

The woman who works in the office

down the hall got a call

on her cell phone.

She said a plane hit the tower.

There’s more panic.

More news

Why can’t we get downstairs?

There’re too many people up here.

Why doesn’t someone do something?

Another plane? Another plane?

Oh my God!

My eyes are burning.

The stairwell is so crowded.

A woman fell down

and was trampled.

I couldn’t help her

People are screaming, crying.

It’s so loud.

So much smoke and so loud.

The Lord is my shepherd

I shall not want

Firemen.

I see firemen…

They’re coming to help us.

Another explosion

It’s so far to the bottom

I can’t breathe.

My eyes burn

Oh my God!

My children

What will my children do?

Who will tell my children?

(Denise S.)

Somebody was interrupting my morning routine.

I didn’t want to answer the phone.

I had to blow dry my hair.

I had to put on my makeup.

I had to look after the kids.

Who was calling?

Why were they calling now?

What was so important?

“Turn on the TV,” my step-mom said.

“Do you know what’s happening?”

No, obviously I didn’t.

Olivia, stop kicking your brother.

Hand me the remote, please…

I have to change the channel

just for a minute, I’ll turn it back

to Barney, I swear.

“Oh my God! What’s happening?” I said.

“Planes are flying into the Twin Towers

on purpose…It’s terrorists,” Judy explained.

What?

Oh my God!

Terrorists?!? Fuck

“Mom, what’s wrong?”

“What are terrorists?”

“Mommy, why are you crying?”

“Mommy”

“Mommy”

“Stop.”

(Beth K.)

(using the voice of Emily from the grave in Thorton Wilder’s Our Town)

I was in the graveyard, already

looking down at the town

smelling the coffee and bacon from breakfast

and hearing Mama’s sad humming.

I guess she misses me.

And then I heard it.

a big sound—like a crash, a bolt of

lightning and the entire sky falling in.

It was nearby and so far away

far, past Mama and her bacon

and Papa and his newspaper

past the borders of New Hampshire

but not past life

not past the grey stillness of this

eternity existence, neither

I saw a rip in the sky,

and felt, for a moment, the

memory of pain

and from that memory, a rip in my heart

when I remembered life

and the feel of Papa’s stubbly

face when I hugged him in the evening

I remembered the ache of love

and this ache became a pain so

great

and I could see that even my

now dull memories of our

simple life were dying.

that hugging Papa, picking

berries, hoping, working, and

feeling clean and safe and

right were somehow being

taken from us.

The future had come to

Grover’s Corner, New Hampshire,

USA, the world, the milky way

in the flash of a thousand

cries falling from the sky,

But we are no longer innocent—and

no longer dead.

(Lisa K.)