From the heart...

                                     
                                           

                                                 BOXES

September 11, 2001 : WHY?

September 11, 2011.

We're still asking why?...

But still have no answers that can appease us.

Because there aren't any.

They don't exist.

It's been ten years since that day that changed all of our lives.

New Yorkers.

Americans.

The human race.

Anyone who feels can understand the horrible tragedy of that day. Or perhaps they can't. Perhaps we can't. Perhaps we never will. Because the actions taken on that day are inconceivable.

Unfathomable.

Senseless.

Will we ever understand?

Can we?

Once the smoke cleared, was anything really any clearer?

When the air was breathable again, did the pain that constricted our chests subside?

Pain for loss. Our loss.

Loss of innocent lives.

Loss of mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, grandmothers and grandfathers, aunts and uncles, and friends.

Loss of our sense of safety and security.

The air was breathable, but could we? After we lost so much?

Some lost faith. Many more lost hope. Because it was crushed. Left amongst the rubble. Rubble that was eventually cleared away.

And what we were left with was boxes.

Or maybe that's all there's ever been.

Boxes.

The towers stood tall against the sky, boxes filled with life. Prosperity. Boxes where business flourished. Where so many people worked hard to earn the means to feed their families, put roofs over their heads. Roofs on boxes.

Boxes that crumbled to the ground because they were struck by more boxes. Boxes with wings. Flown by individuals living in boxes of evil. The boxes of their minds that devastated our hearts.

Those crumbled boxes led to more. So many more...

Boxes upon boxes upon boxes that now hold the remnants of precious lives lost. Lost in the sky-scraping boxes that stand no more. Lost in the winged boxes that brought them down. And the others that fell from flight that terrible day. The innocent lives that filled them all - taken. Senselessly.

Lives of brave men and women... firefighters and police officers and the countless others that tried to help - their lives cut short because they tried to save others. Selflessly.

Boxes were filled.

Hearts and hopes and dreams shattered.

But it didn't stop there. More boxes would come.

Boxes...

Offices where decisions were made. Desks that were sat behind. Podiums that were stood behind. While those of us whose lives were spared had our futures decided for us.

We sat staring at boxes - the horrific images we watched replayed again and again. As if our minds could ever forget.

We listened to promises being made. Promises of justice. Promises that only brought more boxes.

More winged boxes took our soldiers away from home. Soldiers sent to fight for our justice... Our brave soldiers sent to fight by men in suits who sat safely behind boxes while they lost their lives fighting for the justice they promised. Our soldiers sent back home in boxes within more winged boxes. More lives lost. More hopes shattered.

They came and they came and they came...

And ten years later, they're still coming home in boxes.

More children have lost their mothers and fathers. More mothers and fathers have lost their sons and daughters. Brothers. Sisters.

And men in suits still sit in offices behind desks and make the decisions that will continue to change our lives. Destroy our hopes. They still stand behind podiums and give speeches. Make still more promises. While every minute more innocent lives are lost.

And those of us whose lives are still spared, sit in front of boxes and shake our heads.

Shake our heads and cry for the boxes that never seem to stop filling.

We wipe our tears with soft cloths pulled from boxes that never seem to be full enough.

Ten years of tears.

Ten years of grief.

Ten years of boxes.

Why?

Ten years of promises.

Ten long years have passed...

But it still feels like yesterday.

Our minds haven't forgotten.

They'll never forget.

Our eyes still see.

They'll always see.

Our hearts still ache.

They break again and again.

Every time we see.

Every time we hear.

Every time we try to breathe.

Every time another box is filled.

Every time another empty promise is made.

Because we know that more lives will be lost.

And more boxes will be filled.

Senselessly.

Why?

We will never hear an answer that will appease us.

Because there isn't one.

There are only boxes.

And on this day, and every day that my life is spared, every day that I'm given opportunity to breathe... my heart goes out to those that are filled, and those that were taken from us. And to all that have lost so much.

September 11, 2001 : I will never forget.