The 25th anniversary of 9/11 is upon us, a day that changed America, that changed the world, that changed me. It woke me up from my Pollyanna beliefs and made me look more clearly at my own country’s bad actions in the name of democracy.
as the second plane slammed,
the first perhaps an accident,
now knowing it was not.
I was undone by the hate,
thought we were so admired.
In the aftermath, ruled by fear and grief,
fingers pointed outward,
the dust revealed a country
who meddled in the darkness of secrets,
a magician’s trick I fell for.
Was I that naive,
or was it ignorance born of pride,
believing the history taught
to always be transparent,
no slight of hand in the cards of progress
spread out before me as proof, face up.
The deck was stacked.
On that Day I was born again,
an American who no longer accepted
the illusion of our exceptionalism,
who finally understood
that smoke and mirrors
leads to death and destruction.
I blame the monsters for the deaths.
I blame my country for conjuring them.
I blame myself for believing in magic.
Poetry by Melinda K Zarate
Read 33 times
Written on 2026-09-10 at 14:15
Tags Exceptionalusm Illusion
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Monsters
Memories of terror watched liveas the second plane slammed,
the first perhaps an accident,
now knowing it was not.
I was undone by the hate,
thought we were so admired.
In the aftermath, ruled by fear and grief,
fingers pointed outward,
the dust revealed a country
who meddled in the darkness of secrets,
a magician’s trick I fell for.
Was I that naive,
or was it ignorance born of pride,
believing the history taught
to always be transparent,
no slight of hand in the cards of progress
spread out before me as proof, face up.
The deck was stacked.
On that Day I was born again,
an American who no longer accepted
the illusion of our exceptionalism,
who finally understood
that smoke and mirrors
leads to death and destruction.
I blame the monsters for the deaths.
I blame my country for conjuring them.
I blame myself for believing in magic.
Poetry by Melinda K Zarate
Read 33 times
Written on 2026-09-10 at 14:15
Tags Exceptionalusm Illusion
Save as a bookmark (requires login) Write a comment (requires login) Send as email (requires login) Print text
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