Rainbows and Demons

Rainbows and Demons

It happened that one day
Two planes, two great winged demons
With misled minds of fire, red eyes vacant
Crashed into the two towers
And, as they tumbled down, so did we
Our hope, two erect pillars; brought down by that monster, hate.

A sudden empty silence
A black pit of throbbing fear embedded in our hearts

We all felt it.
Businessmen tumulting through jammed streets
Children slumped over in their school chairs
Wives washing the dishes in bright, livid kitchens
Taxi drivers honking relentlessly at one another
Babies wailing softly in their dark cribs
We all felt it.

It was a looming thundercloud that hung over us,
Grey mists draping over the sky, ready to burst
And when it did, it set a twisting panic in our unnerved hearts
A tornado of anxiety, whirling through our minds in a blur
As we thought about the ones we loved

People moved not leisurely, but in a rush, heads down, minds churning
All of America moved, dashed, confused, wondering
Wondering how, and why, and… who.

And suddenly, phones were not simple devices
Used just for friendly chats
But held vital information, held peoples’ souls in their plastic speakers
As parents called their sons, and either beheld a easing, shaken voice answering
Or the loud buzzing of the operator…

And in those dark moments of confusion and dread,
One death was mourned by millions;
One lost daughter punctured a thousand living souls
America was one lamenting mind those moments

To the mothers who watched their children playing cheerfully
Mothers watching with red eyes; with gagged mouths that beheld dreadful news
And to the men standing on the empty sidewalks, clutching newspapers
Standing in that stony silence, during which they bury their hard grief
And to those families who think, who wish it were all a dream
Who wish that this world were not full of flicking shadows and darkness

And to that graceful woman, staring out the weeping window
Silent tears falling down her stolid face, a million faces
And yet, as she turned her eyes- a million eyes- from the mourning mess outside
They were filled with a glinting hardness;
A confidence in the empty shadow weakness had dug
A faint, tremulous smile passed her lips- a million more lips

And outside, colors weaved together to form a pale rainbow
A weak rainbow, hard to see, but it was still there
Still shining, tall and proud
Pure against the overbearing shadow that loomed in the background
That horrific day of 9/11.

~Chloe