America’s poet laureate, Billy Collins, wrote a poem a year after the tragedy.
He called it ‘The Names’ about the 2,792 who perished that day.
Names etched on
the head of a pin.
One name spanning
a bridge, another
undergoing a tunnel.
A blue name needled
into the skin.
Names of citizens,
workers, mothers,
and fathers,
The bright-eyed
daughter, the quick son.
Alphabet of names in
a green field.
Names in the small tracks of birds.
Names lifted from a hat
Or balanced on
the tip of the tongue.
Names wheeled
into the dim warehouse
of memory.
So many names, there
is barely room on
the walls of the heart.
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So many names.♥
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<3
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So many names..so many memories. I truky hope the world remembers. Thanks for sharing this, Beth
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<3
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💙
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I was teaching the water cycle to my seventh graders when I learned of the attack… it was son’s first day of preschool… I will never forget
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<3 i think we will all remember where we were and what we were doing on this horrible day
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Still so hard to comprehend…
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ty, ivor
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Each name is a prayer.
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yes
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Agree that each name is a prayer…
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❤️
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A very sad and emotional poem.
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It’s so painful to realize, at this exact moment 25 years ago, so many people were dying. :(
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A fitting poem.
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A poem that stirs our emotions, Beth. 💔
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❤️
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Such a sad, tragic day.
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❤️
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It is the names which personalize this tragedy, just as this poem does.
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❤️🇺🇸🤞
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❣️❣️❣️❣️❣️
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Beautiful.
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<3
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🙏🏼
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Such a somber day as I sit and remember all we lost that day. Hugs, C
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<3
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It’s a perfect poem for such a horrific loss. Thank you, Beth. Cher xoxoxo
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<3
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So much of the focus gets placed on the event. It’s important that we never forget that each of the victims and their families.
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yes, each one equally important
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So evocative. Thanks, Beth.
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<3
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Thanks for this. It has been a somber day.
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Excellent tribute 🤍🤍🤍🤍🤍
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<3
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Although I had yet to learn their names, I recall that morning, those images, where I stood, the faces of my children…for many of us, it’s engraved into memory.
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it absolutely is
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gee, I can’t remember the last time I read a Billy Collins poem: this is a good one
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i really like him
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A beautiful tribute, beth.
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A beautiful tribute! 💕 Hard to believe it’s been 25 years. The tribute they did earlier this week with the 2,739 drones was so beautifully done.
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i know it really is hard to image that those years have passed. yes, that was beautiful –
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So many names… so much loss…. -I remember every minute of that day, including the story of a cousin who wouldn’t leave the South Tower because they kept telling people they were safe. Her mom pleaded with her to leave – she chose to stay. I always wonder what I would have done…
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Oh, this gave me chills Vickie. I’ve thought about these scenarios as well, and it is hard to know what we would really do in that moment.
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I think I would’ve left. But again if I was hearing from everyone in charge that it’s safer to stay I might’ve done that
🤷♀️
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I clearly remember that day. I was working the night shift as an RN, and when we saw it on TV in the morning, it changed everybody.
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i’m sure it was an instant shift
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A very moving poem
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<3
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