six years later

People have said so many many many things about that day.
a few ideas that mean something to me and have resonated over the years are:
that was the end of our innocence, a shift that came so violently there was an emtional disconnect similar to what happens when people experience a psychological break-- the difference between the world, our world, my world anyway, at 8:44 am Sept. 11, 2001, and 8:45 am, ... ALL was altered tremendously. In a moment. Without time or warning or the tools to adjust or cope or even begin to understand. A flash, and it was gone. And yet, a city, a country even, experienced the shock and awe (the REAL shock and awe, as opposed to the flashy docu-war on Fox News later... I still can't believe that is what the Bush administration named their first steps in Iraq in Feb 2003) and TRAGEDY together. we held each other up, smiled through tears to comfort strangers, spent hours looking at the faces of strangers and came to KNOW and CARE for them... vigils, more candles than I have ever seen in my life, hugs, music, poems read aloud, the idea that going out to dinner was a step in renewing the spirit and social contract of the city... the putting one foot in front of the other day after day even if the masses pedalling through train stations, down sidewalks, and into and out of buildings was BARELY holding on...

we have come a long way. together?

Six years later...