by Katie Simmons, Radford [nlcf], written on the occasion of 911
How many stretches of barren, dusty land
Do we encounter in a lifetime?
Land that is dispersed
Across our vast memories
But then, in an instant, that land is
Shaken, stirred, rattled, rolled
And banished
To the deepest crevice of our minds
Because of its shortcomings compared
To the new and thought provoked scale
By which we have reevaluated our lives.
In times like these,
We turn back to Him who exemplifies
Love and understanding
In their truest essence
In times like these,
We search for meaning and value
In times like these,
The very nature of the insuppressible human spirit
Becomes evident
And in times like these,
We gain our greatest glory.