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By Davis Ndyomugabe of Qachecks
Twenty-five years later, how does the world remember September 11, 2001? In 9-11 Tragedy, Davis Ndyomugabe of Qachecks reflects on the attacks on the World Trade Center and his own visit to Ground Zero eight years later. Moving between historical memory and personal experience, the poem confronts grief, human vulnerability and a question that remains difficult decades later: what has humanity learned from tragedy?
I remember the 9-11
Twin Towers tragedy.
Vividly I do,
With the freshest clarity.
It was one of those
Beautiful, warm Tuesday mornings.
It is forever unforgettable…
At 8:46 a.m.,
The first plane struck the North Tower.
At 9:03 a.m.,
The second plane struck the South Tower.
Smoke rose.
Fire burned.
The impact and fires
Had wounded both towers.
At 9:59 a.m.,
The South Tower collapsed.
At 10:28 a.m.,
The North Tower followed.
Everywhere,
There was grey and dust.
Debris rolled down
Like the fastest train.
Crumbling crumbs
Crumpled down.
Armageddon was violently unfolding.
People were trapped.
Others desperately sought escape.
Everything happening
Was surreal.
The magnitude of the occurrence
Was ghastly.
Gruesome it was.
Shock seized everyone.
The act of planning
And execution
Was unbelievable.
Rage boiled
In every watching soul.
The pathos cut through
Like the sharpest razor blades.
Could this have been conceived
By normal, sane humans?
9-11 happened
Before our watching eyes.
And the question asked is:
Why did it happen?
Did humanity learn lessons
From this dastardly act?
On 6 August 2009,
I visited the World Trade Center site—
Ground Zero.
Eight years later,
The reek of death
Seemed to blast my nostrils.
Or perhaps
It was an eerie feeling—
A blending contamination
Of sense and memory.
Tears, without prompting,
Erupted from my eyes.
A grinding lump
Seized my throat.
I could not believe
That I was at Ground Zero…
It still felt
Like a haunted place.
And the vulnerability of mankind
Looked straight into my eyes.
Then came
The gaze of foreboding fear.
A realisation
That all humanity is one.
The danger against one
Is a danger against all.
The victims were in America,
But the wounds and grief
Touched people
In every corner of the world.
Even the perpetrators’ triumph
Could not escape
The cold hand of ignominy.
Twenty-five years later,
The freshness
Of that unprecedented attack
Still leaves a bitter taste
In the American psyche.
Can it ever be avenged?
Or is it so immense
That it lies beyond
Human revenge?
Maybe America
Will remember,
But never, ever forget.
And then—
What?
— Davis Ndyomugabe of Qachecks
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