11: Poetry Performance

Read by Mimi Rice, veteran Tampa Bay actress and radio theater producer.
Recorded at Pro Star Studio in St. Petersburg, Florida, June 5, 2019.

Americans thought
that we were beyond onslaught
and forever safe.
Then the twin towers collapsed
and our illusions vanished.

9/11 marks
the end of our innocence—
despair without end.
Nothing much matters to us
except grabbing what we can.

9/11 is
remembered and forgotten
every single day—
Iraqi and Afghani
wars feed our futility.

9/11 fades
and reappears in our sleep
as late night terrors.
Morning in America
casts first light on our problems.

9/11 is
the beginning of the end
of democracy.
We make America great
with fists and middle fingers.