Every year, the 9/11 Tribute Museum has hosted a variety of events celebrating April as National Poetry Month and Poem in Your Pocket Day. We’re sharing a number of poems that we found quite special. Recently, a young visitor from the UK left us a poem on a visitor card that we felt moved by:
Sirens roared everywhere, dust invaded the sky,
Steel bent and glass shattered, two goliaths started to die.
A sea of colors charged into the chaos, minute in scale to the deepening ocean of sound,
The skeletons of metal mammoths laying in filthy piles, scarring the hardened concrete ground.
By the examples of such heroes we follow, their courage shining over the darkness of terror, of which their actions we forever talk;
What was meant to break it only strengthened – the great city of New York!
– Jack C.
Here are a selection of poem written by students in the 7th and 8th Grade Chorus at the Pollard Middle School. They will be visiting the 9/11 Tribute Museum soon and their teacher encouraged the students to write about the difference they can make through music in the world.
Music, where should I begin? I met you when I was young,
You helped me through tough times, You healed my wounds
You solve conflict.
My friends met me through music.
If I didn’t have music, I wouldn’t have them.
If I didn’t know them, I would not be here with all of you today.
The world runs on music.
You connect us, you bind us, and you make us feel welcome.
I met you in school, I was called a fool,
And you helped me get through it. Your presence brings joy,
Kids play you from a toy,
And your tune makes me tap my foot a bit.
– Brian C., Grade 7
Poem for the 911 Memorial
My heart is a song
With an endless melody
And billions of voices who add their Own hearts
In harmony
My soul is the life with which The world lives
And my mind is the force of its will
For I have seen peace
And I have blessed it with my silvery voice A thousand songs of love and fortune
I have been burdened, Scarred by Earth’s hardships Forced to obey a warning call
Of songs signaling destruction and hate
I may bend
As the willow does
To the song of the wind
Or the rhythm of a heartbeat
But I am as old
As unmoving
As a mountain
Thrusting itself above the plentiful earth
To pierce the endless sky above
For I am what defines you
What defines time
And love
Life
And death
For I am music
– Caroline P., Grade 7
Music connects everyone.
It doesn’t matter what language you speak, Or how old you are.
We all have that song that we love. That you know the words to
And can’t get it out of your head But don’t want to anyway.
It’s something that everyone treasures, Even the birds.
Even the whales
Even animals know how important it is. They sing,
And so do we.
– Amiya T., Grade 6
I watch I listen
At the end I clap
I stand
I feel present
Even though I am not
I feel happy
For the first time in so long Watching a concert
– Liam S., Grade 7
Thank you to all of our poets, young and old, who have inspired us over the years with their thoughts and words!
