We

I grieve for the victims, all of them

Who perished at the outset; vanished;

Consumed by a bolt from the blue.

I grieve for the victims, all of them: All of you,

Whose loss is beyond words; and you,

Who were on the spot and saw what is unspeakable.

I grieve for the victims, all of them: All of us,

Outraged that the citadel of freedom should be defiled;

Freedom itself rebuked;

That the collective joy of our work-a-day lives

Is held hostage at the core of Ground Zero.

I grieve for the victims, all of them: Each of us,

A newly-made refugee of the mind,

Crossing unmarked borders,

Dodging unspecified horrors;

Silhouettes in a landscape without milestones.

I grieve for the victims: All of them;

You and us; each of us, myself;

Accepting that I must live as if life truly were at stake,

No matter the circumstances;

Heedless of the end, yet uncertain.

I grieve for the victims: Everyone, everywhere,

For whom there will now be no Peace.

Victims of Their Time