Where were you on 9/11
When the frightening news was reported--
When all over the country airline
Flights had to be aborted?

Was your TV show interrupted
With images on your TV screen--
Images that for many were
The scariest that they'd ever seen?

"At my office." "Driving to work."
"In my class." "At the store."
"Watching the kids." "At the gym."
"Just about to walk out the door."

When we got to a TV set,
We gazed at the screen in disbelief.
Minute by minute each news report
Compounded both our terror and grief.

It was hard to comprehend
The sudden loss of so many lives--
Children, friends and relatives,
Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives.

On that day, life for all of us changed.
Sadly, now there's no going back
To how we lived before that time.
When will there be another attack?

Terrorist threats had long existed.
That's a fact that we can't dispute.
However, we also have to fear
Domestic terrorists to boot.

Also, on a single day
The COVID virus has been the cause
Of more deaths than on 9/11.
That number ought to give us pause.

Since 9/11, twenty years
Have passed, yet threats to our lives don't cease.
Question: Can we preserve our freedoms
And also achieve lasting peace?

-by Bob B (9-11-21)