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September 11, 2001 MAG

September 10, 2010
By AliciaH SILVER, Bronx, New York
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AliciaH SILVER, Bronx, New York
7 articles 0 photos 11 comments
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I was nine
Nine and a half and still a little kid
and my fourth-grade teacher started crying on
the second week of school
in front of the class and all she would say was
there was a problem in Manhattan but her daughter
was okay.
School ended early and we children
clustered in the schoolyard, gleaning
what information we could and trading big words we
heard from the grown-ups but
had never before needed to know.
The grown-ups weren’t talking to us,
just reaching toward each other
like scared little kids and asking “Are all of yours okay?”
and saying “Yes, thanks be
to God,
and yours?”
telling us “Just shush, shush, stay right here
by me.”
The older kids looked shaken and
spoke in pretentious tones undercut
by wavers and tremors and adolescent
cracks in their voices, saying
something about a bomb.

© Caitlyn H., Indianapolis, IN

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This article has 7 comments.

AliciaH SILVER said...
on Sep. 20 2010 at 7:38 pm
AliciaH SILVER, Bronx, New York
7 articles 0 photos 11 comments
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Thanks, everyone. I'm glad the poem connected with you guys.
Misamandajones BRONZE said...
on Sep. 19 2010 at 10:16 pm
Misamandajones BRONZE, Palmetto, Florida
4 articles 11 photos 32 comments

Favorite Quote:
Oh my unnamed deity!
Think off-center
Not only do I not know what's going on but I wouldn't know what to do if I did.
I love to laugh

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I was living in Virginia at the time, like, 15 minutes away, and it was exactly the same for us, just replace the towers with the Pentagon. I wish I remembered more than I do
BekkahsLoopy GOLD said...
on Sep. 12 2010 at 12:28 am
BekkahsLoopy GOLD, San Jose, California
10 articles 4 photos 32 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Keep looking forward; don't look back."
"To the world, you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world."

View profile
My dad thought he was watching a movie on TV...but it took him a while to realize that it wasn't; it was real. I can't imagine how it was like for you, since you were close to all of it. Good job with this. It's powerful.
Msrbl@Bst BRONZE said...
on Sep. 11 2010 at 11:45 pm
Msrbl@Bst BRONZE, Columbia, South Carolina
4 articles 0 photos 27 comments

Favorite Quote:
Love is the opiate of the universe.

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This is exactly what it was like for me! My parents turned on the tv and i just didn't understand it. I could only think of how my birthday was tomorrow. 

Thank you saying what I can never describe :)

gkswodls SILVER said...
on Sep. 11 2010 at 3:43 pm
gkswodls SILVER, San Diego, California
7 articles 0 photos 3 comments
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oh my god. it was the same for me, i didn't really understand what was happening but everyone around me was all scared. anyways this is an awesome poem. i love it
Thesilentraven PLATINUM said...
on Sep. 11 2010 at 3:26 pm
Thesilentraven PLATINUM, Mableton, Georgia
40 articles 2 photos 1632 comments

Favorite Quote:
"il piu nell' uno," (according to Emerson, an Italian expression for beauty)

"Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality" ~Emily Dickinson

"The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain"
~Kahlil Gibran

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This is an extraordinary poem. A deep and profound meaning is interlaced with expertise between these childlike words. It was such a sad happening, and you captured the sadness in a unique way. I applaud you for that.
Emmy13329 GOLD said...
on Sep. 11 2010 at 1:07 pm
Emmy13329 GOLD, Middletown, Delaware
10 articles 0 photos 26 comments
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I 2 remember everything that happened which is kinda weird since i was only 5 i think but it's marked me ever sice i remmeber every single detail ,i remember crying being scared,good job i love this:)