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This writing was accepted for publication in the 108 page perfect-bound ISSN# / ISBN# issue/book “Seahorse” Down in the Dirt, v194 (the 4/22 Issue) Order the paperback book:

Order this writing that appears in the one-of-a-kind anthology The Ice that Was the Down in the Dirt Jan.-April 2022 issues collection book		get the 420 page Jan.-April 2022 Down in the Dirt 6" x 9" ISBN# perfect-bound paperback book:

Memories and Purpose Seared on 9-11

Douglas J. Lanzo

A plane crashing headfirst
into the North Tower,
plumes of smoke billowing,
flames too intense to douse;
memories seared on that dark day;
Firefighters, police and paramedics
rushing into the towers,
guiding, carrying evacuees
across glass-strewn stairs;
memories seared on that dark day;

A second plane crashing
into the South Tower,
stripping those trapped
of their last vestiges of hope;
memories seared on that dark day;
Sounds of bodies smashing
on pavement, through roofs, across atriums,
glass and lives shattered
in desperate, plunging moments;
memories seared on that dark day;
Steel towers moaning, rending,
collapsing in massive waves
of smoky black debris
engulfing hundreds of lives;
memories seared on that dark day;
Firefighter beacons
chirping eerily across ash-strewn ruins,
marking where brave rescuers
moved their last;
memories seared on that dark day;

First responders
scrambling through smoldering rubble
in desperate search for missing strangers, fallen friends:
fathers, daughters, mothers, sons;
memories seared on that dark day;
Fleeing Washington, D.C. on foot, across bridges,
smoke billowing from the Pentagon,
thousands of bewildered faces,
praying for no further strikes;
memories seared on that dark day;
Hearing that a dear friend,
trapped in Windows on the World,
sent final emails to his family,
of intense fire and choking smoke,
memories seared on that dark day;
Mourning in body, soul and spirit,
for all those who lost their lives,
and for their grieving families,
vowing righteous justice;
memories seared on that dark day;
Twenty years later,
reflecting on those who perished,
questioning whether we have lived
up to the ideals they taught us;
a purpose infused into each day..

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