Tag: Twin Towers

Historic Trinity Church on Lower Broadway at the Foot of Wall Street. Behind Loom the Towers of One of Manhattan's Newest Giants, the World Trade Center 05/1973

To be the last

Published on by Maciej Modzelewski1 Comment

They never asked to be the last living person
to witness what happened, or maybe just visit
or see the Twin Towers in person, even if only from afar,
and perhaps would prefer to remain in the shadows,
away from the uninvited attention of politicians and the media,
but one day, there will be someone like that, for sure.

One day, even New Yorkers will think of 9/11
no more than we think of Verdun or the Somme,
and eventually, there will be only a handful of experts,
like with the Achaemenid destruction of Athens.

For now, while the scars are still fresh,
let’s try to avoid the mistakes of a hundred years ago.

Remember, the Great War was to be the last.

watercolour with lighted candles stretching to the horizon

Victims

Published on by Maciej Modzelewski1 Comment

It must have been something important
that, as a reporter on duty, I was on a bus
to visit some family in trouble,
and yet I can’t recall what it was.
All I remember is that when I arrived,
the planes had already crashed into the Twin Towers,
and instead of talking, we sat in silence
in front of the TV in their living room.
Then the editor called my mobile to come back
to the newsroom immediately, and that was it.
Their faces, names, and even the name of the town
have long since faded from my memory.
I don’t know if anyone got back to them eventually
to help with whatever it was that troubled them.
I guess, in a sense, they were victims too,
even if all they could ever get
was this feeble memorial.