We Thought We Knew
A Tribute to September 11th, 2001
We thought we knew what terror was. We thought we knew of fear.
We thought we knew great sadness, for which we shed our tears.
We thought we knew the pain of loss, and the grief for loved ones gone.
We thought we knew how hard it is to pick up and move on.
We thought we knew of tragedy, from moments in the past,
We thought we knew the strength we’d need, and how long it needs to last.
We thought we knew the consequence of actions based in hate,
We thought we knew we can’t control our destiny and fate.
We thought we knew the answers when our children ask us why.
We thought we knew we can’t erase the anguish in their eyes.
We thought we knew what hope was. We thought we knew despair.
We thought we knew what kindness was and how much people care.
We thought we knew of anger. We thought we knew of rage.
We thought we knew the end result of one madman’s rampage.
We thought we knew that we were safe in the borders of our land.
We thought we knew no matter what, we’d have the upper hand.
We thought we knew this evil, but it existed “over there”,
We thought we knew that terrorists could never strike us here.
We thought we knew that heroes, were scarce and very few,
Who’d risk their lives, to save the ones, of those they never knew.
We thought we knew the pride we shared, in a country built by dreams,
And just how much we love our flag and everything it means.
We thought we knew so many things, as we traveled on our way.
We never knew how much we’d learn, in just a single day.
We learned the depths of sorrow, of anger and of loss.
To truly treasure freedom; because it has a cost.
We learned that as a people, we are strong and joined as one.
And we will stand united to do what must be done.
We learned that though we’re wounded and we need some time to heal.
We ARE truth, peace and liberty and for that we WILL prevail!
Michelle Gizzi
September 15, 2001
Living in NJ, only 15 miles from NYC and having generations oof family members working for the Port Authority of NY?NJ, the attacks on 9/11 were very personal to me. As a child, my stepfather worked on the World Trade Center Towers as they were being built. He told us one was named Marlene and the other Michelle in honor of me and my twin sister (and for a while we believed him!). While lying in bed in the wee hours of the morning of 9/12, with no planes overhead, no local television or rradio stations able to broadcast and very few cars on the street, the silence was so profound that I felt as though I could hear the rescue effort occurring at Ground Zero. This poem was started on that night and completed on 9/15/01. My stepfather brought the poem to the Port Authority Print Shop and they superimposed it on a picture of the Twin Towers and made it into the poster. I am happy to share it on this site.