9/11 Stories
Adalet Budak
September 11, 2001
The Sun, like a child who has lost her mother,
has been crying all day long.
Now, at sunset, it is time to go
down to the unknown place.
The sad, red clouds want to cry, but don’t;
they give the Moon their mission.
The Moon is sad because its mission
is to light Ground Zero; after it finishes,
The Moon will cry too because
it has seen the Twin Towers on the ground.
The Moon knew them—before they collapsed
in the attack, they had seemed
like a young boy and girl, hand in hand.
The girl was tall, thin and beautiful.
Her clothes were her many windows like mirrors;
she was as beautiful as a butterfly.
The boy was also tall and handsome, and his face
gave light to his surroundings.
They loved each other and promised each other
to live forever hand in hand; but
their promise has been broken.
Now they are only a heap of stone and steel;
watching them, the Moon will cry.
They are sleeping and yet still burning
among the flames on the ground
It seems like Hell. Many lives are in that heap,
lives that didn’t have time to say goodbye
to mothers, fathers, wives, husbands, and children.
Adalet Budak (from Turkey)