Poem for My Mother on September 11th

My Mother on September 11^th

We didn’t know if we would live

Beyond that Tuesday.

I rushed from my teaching duties

Thinking not with my brain

But my frightened heart.

Filled the car with gas (what if

the stations ran dry?)

Took $200 out from the ATM (what if

the banks close?)

And drove my car like a maniac

Over the backroads to Euclid (what if

the freeways get jammed?)

To be with my Mother,

Aged, blind, living alone, maybe scared . . . .

When I got there, she was fine,

I was the one terrified.

She had lived through 12 years of the Great Depression,

Four years of The War-To-End-All-Wars,

Followed by The-War-After-That (Korea), and

The War-After-That (Vietnam), and

All the little wars,

All the little and huge deaths.

She was peaceful, strong, hopeful,

Helped her scared oldest son --me--

Face that terrible day

Gave me an idea of what to do

Next.

Robert M. Coughlin

September 11, 2003