A moving poem by Alayna, received in a distributed e-mail

of anthems

shrugging off the minutia of morning coffee
and the warm silent rise of sun,
strange birds circled overhead, singing a new anthem
and the world will never quite know itself again.

tuesday 8:48am,
chance and circumstance
punctured a grand canyon wide chasm in the sky
staining it opaque with black dust and blood.

the sun hung itself distant
as glass rained, steel shouted
children were born fatherless and free
into my country, 'tis of thee.

beacons of light donned firefighter coats
charging headfirst into the amber waves
without hesitation or fear or thought
only an anthem of duty echoed faintly in the stairwell.

time and place like any other and no other
police sirens and emergency orders
weaving intricately - delicately - into the tapestry of the streets
blanketing the metropolis with a fragile hush.

without permission,
skyward Goliaths cascaded towards the earth,
folding inside of its fingers
entire universes understandings undertakings.

far from the urban grid,
in a nameless, split level house,
(on a random, manicured, suburban street)
began another anthem, this one of defeat.

from the epicenter,
the most far reaching corners of countries and churches,
came to measure the immeasurable.
in hand, a tiny rag to wipe away the worlds tear.

twilight and sun and night and dusk moved unnoticed
as hands and hearts trudged deep and thick into the ash
pushing palpable resolve against inevitable
with an anthem of low, heavy, muteness.

as days stretched sand over grieving deserts
the physical that what was to divide us
instead, made pieces whole - shards of glass, a vase
making every face in the crowd familiar.

from every porch, every door, every store window and street
hung the soul of a nation realized
singing glory to god, we will remember!
we will rebuild! we will not forget!

and so begins the true anthem