The last day dawns on my life And I don't know it As I wake up to golden rays Of sun knocking on my eyelids.
I kissed my wife good morning, Got up out of bed And tucked her in again. Naomi spent 10 hours last night Delivering a new mother's firstborn. I didn't tell her good morning And I wish I told her I loved her But I didn't want to wake her.
I sipped my coffee on the way to work As if it were any other day, My only worry was if I had spilled any On the new pink and white Polka-dot tie my daughter Elise Had bought me for my birthday Last weekend Or the new Bostonian shoes My wife gave me With the card that read, We love you from top to bottom!
I walked into the conference room And checked my watch: 8:36. I was 9 minutes early To the most exciting moment Of my career: My first pitch as project manager For the new country club going up East of the city in Glenwood Landing.
I was 10 minutes early To the most helpless moment Of my life.
At 8:45 I said good morning To many fine ladies and gentlemen... Bankers, lawyers, city representatives, A union boss, some secretaries, And a stenographer in the back.
The same words I would never again say to my wife and child...
And immediately I was thrown Through the air And knocked against the righthand wall Of the room. I was utterly confused And my face burned From the coffee I had been holding That now stained My beautiful polka-dot tie.
It would be nothing compared to the heat I would soon face.
Outside our 111th-story window Rose an obsidian plume of smoke. We all knew something terrible Had happened just a few floors below.
The fine ladies and gentlemen Of a moment ago Quickly turned into uncivilized beasts As the lights went out And the piercing scream of the fire alarm Shouted louder than the new mother Experiencing the pain Of her first childbirth.
Smoke very quickly came from below And filled the floor with the foulest odor I had ever smelled: Burning rubber, sulfur, And burnt hair. Others in the room sealed the door shut With expensive overcoats and undershirts From Armani and Burberry.
They tried the phone countless times But the line was dead. I looked down at my watch As a bead of sweat fell from my brow And landed on my new tie: 9:11.
Today's date.
The fire alarm got tired of yelling And the room was filled with an Uncomfortable rumbling sound...
Flames...
...and the hysterical wails of the Fine ladies and gentlemen in the room. Some prayed, some wept together, Others wept alone. The one thing we all had in common Was the persistent coughing From the obsidian smoke Slicing our lungs.
I looked down at my watch: 9:23. The heat was now almost unbearable. We huddled around the window Jack or John or Jim smashed With the powerful throw Of a mini-refigerator.
When I gazed out the window At the same sun that kissed my eyelids This morning, I was calm. I thought of Naomi, who was Surely watching on television As her family called her to make sure Her and I and Elise were alright.
Daddy's alright, baby girl.
I'm alright, Naoms.
9:31... Gary or Greg was the first to jump.
I'll make it home to you, angels.
9:32... Sophia or Cynthia was next.
Please, God, get me out of here...
9:33... Jack or John or Jim And Patty or Peggy Were each other's last hug As they fell Like two stars from heaven.
9:35... I couldn't see And I couldn't breathe. The sunlight was the last thing to kiss me.
Before I jumped I felt my girls. I touched the tie on my neck And the shoes on my feet.