Untitled - September 17, 2001

In one moment of clarity,
there lies the shattering
of the dreams
of thousands
upon millions.

In one flicker of an eye,
I watched the world
turn upside down,
and then inside out.

In one unrelenting nightmare,
images are torn
from across a screen
looped endlessly,
even as the world
reeled from the horror.

In one hope,
we moved to help,
to find those lost,
reunite those separated
and mend the wounds
of the world.

With one voice,
we cried,
with each death,
we mourned,
until each moment
melded into the next.

But for one minute,
I would give,
to go back
but one week,
to find that sliver
of happiness
that cloaked our souls.

For one lifetime lived now,
struck numb by this terror,
wounded innocents no more.

One day at a time,
for all of those left,
as we move,
one step
after another,
forward.