Poem: Dear Diana

Dear Diana,
On September 10, 2001,
You were six months old. The next day
The world around you changed as it rarely ever does—
With violence, stunning in its cruelty;
With mind-numbing speed;
And with a decisiveness almost unheard of in
Human history.
You and your mother were in the living room, and I
Was still in bed. There was a loud
Screaming outside that sounded like a plane or missile,
Then a huge explosion from the direction of the World Trade Center.
Your mom thought it was a sonic boom;
I thought it might be
What it turned out to be.
I saw the gash, fire, and smoke in the side of the north tower
Of the Trade Center.
I knew it wasn’t an accident.
While I was holding you,
The second plane came screaming in
Followed by the explosion.
In remembering,
You could tell that the engines were being revved up to full throttle
As the planes came boring in for the kill.
I went down to the scene to see if I could help;
People were being evacuated to
The east, south, and west.
The captain of the regional office’s police detail came by
And told me that the Pentagon had been hit.
I was thinking about what to do next when I heard a third screaming
That sounded to me like another plane was coming in.
I dove to the ground and waited for some kind of impact—
And, it crossed my mind, my death.
No shock came.
It was the sonic wave from the south tower collapsing,
Something I had no idea had happened.
I managed to outrun the debris cloud and got home
Just a few minutes later.
Your mother and I grabbed some things for you, put you in the carriage,
And left. The second tower was coming down.
I couldn’t bear to look.
There were thousands of people in the street,
Most going north, away from the
Disaster.
We went into your mom’s church, where we were
Married and you were baptized, and
We prayed.
We prayed for the
Souls of the innocent dead and the
Dark souls of the terrorists.
We prayed.
I can tell you that what you’ve seen and read about this
Is not an illusion and not a lie. It was much more real
Than you can imagine. There was a
Violence in the destruction
That was without any light at all.
I had and have my opinions and my views about
Why this all happened and what I think
Should happen and what I think
Will happen. As you grow older
And get to understand me better
And understand history, you and I will share our thoughts.
One thing I have to say now: As I heard that first plane going in,
I pretty much intuited what was happening
And why.
The woman in front of Notre Dame de Paris
Said what she thought:
“We are all a little American today.”
We may yet learn how to treat ourselves and our children
With love and respect. We may yet learn how to live
With some peace, prosperity, and harmony. I, for my part,
Am not going to wait for your generation to grow into adulthood
To see if it happens. I will be trying harder
Than I ever have to help bring the world to
A better way of living.
I think that on September 11, 2001,
Many millions of people in the world
Made the same decision.
Love Always,
Dad.

Below is the link to the story that inspired this poem.
http://911digitalarchive.org/parser.php?object_id=12311