In Memory

What I remember most after the morning of September 11 
being so far away from my home I felt helpless in California 
on street corners crowds grew waving flags at cars 
people came out by the thousands crowded the streets waving support
small memorials rose up in neighborhoods everywhere and grew to living memorials
flags showed up everywhere, on cars, on buildings, on jackets and hats and children's backpacks and baby strollers, in windows and garbage cans, and painted on the roofs of homes
people came out everywhere
where I worked, regular customers would just come in and sit for awhile, hardly anyone talked, they just wanted to make contact and reach out
and standing in line at the bank the elderly woman who stood in front of me just turned around and looked into my eyes, reached out to touch my hand and held it for a few moments, then she simply turned back to do her business - she held my hand and never said a word
and the truck, a pickup that mounted a huge flag in its truck bed and drove up and down street after street for hours on end - the flag, at least 20 feet long waving in the breeze - it was a site to behold
and the sign I made for my car window
"Let Freedom Ring in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave"
In Memory