A Tear Fell
A tear fell, and was heard around the world.
Morning broke, bright and clear.
A new day, full of hope, full of promise.
Fathers, mothers, sons, daughters—
Family. They kissed, they hugged, they said goodbye.
They would meet again,
When the duties of the day were fulfilled.
Then a tear fell, and was heard around the world.
The unspeakable came to visit America,
Land of the Free.
Giant missiles filled with human bodies, balls of fire from the sky.
Twin towers. World icons. Now ominous infernos.
Open mouths, stares of disbelief.
Then, in a moment, the towers were gone.
A tear fell, and was heard around the world.
Piles of rubble remained where hours before
Thousands appeared for a normal day of toil.
Dads, moms, sons and daughters—
If they forgot to say goodbye they would never have the chance.
Gone in a moment, gone in horror, hurled to their deaths.
America rallied. More important, the World rallied.
A tear fell, and was heard around the world.
Rescuers by the hundreds died
When the behemoths came down.
The hopeless, the helpless, jumped to their deaths,
Hundreds of feet in the air, plummeting like birds
Who forgot how to fly.
But they will not be forgotten. Ever.
A tear fell, and was heard around the world.
Broken bodies, broken homes, broken dreams.
The cries of those buried alive went unheard.
But some, by the mercy of God, were saved.
Somehow, some way, their angels found them,
Hovering there, weeping, praying.
Calling on that very God their nation had forgotten.
People died that autumn day.
People died by the hundreds, the thousands.
Defenseless people died without warning.
From the air, they died. From the towers, they died.
They came to rescue their fellow man, and they died.
A monument will rise there, on hallowed ground,
For a tear fell, and it was heard around the world.
—Kirby Jonas, September 11, 2001
Very beautiful and moving, Kirby. I will never forget that fateful day.
Thank you, Gwen. I’ll never forget it or get over the shock and pain.
Kirby your poem was really great and I truly wanted to cry, but my eyes wouldn’t shed a tear at all my friend. Thanks for sharing it.
You’re welcome.
Beautiful…I will never forget that day.
I sure won’t. I guess most Americans won’t, at least not those who know how important history is.
Wow
🙂
I worked for FEMA when this happened. I was not at work as my only nephew died of cancer & we were in San Antonio. His service & burial were 9/11/01. We turned on the TV while getting ready & I could tell by the voice of the news reporter that something was terribly wrong. About that time we saw the plane hit the second tower. Unbelieveable!! After the service we started scrambling to get home. My daughter was a Richardson, TX. Police Officer & knew she would be on call. I knew FEMA would be involved. We did handle all applications filed by those injured &/or with property damage. Ash was 5 ft. deep in apartments & offices in the area. As I worked cases & talked to callers applying for assistance I heard some strange stories & sad ones. One of them did involve an angel. I talked to many people who worked in those towers. A sad day for all of us & for America.
WOW! I would love to hear more, especially about the angel.
Wow. You have such a great way to put things into words. Thanks for sharing your talent with others.
Thank you so much, Terri. That means a lot to me.
Very moving, Kirby. I’m sure we all remember just what we were doing at that time, on that day. NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN! 🙁
Donna, thank you so very much. I love to hear from you.