[Barry W. Metcalf]

Twin towers in the daylight,
A symbol of your might;
America playing happily--
One day left of innocence.

Twin towers in the sunset,
A symbol of your power;
America going home to rest--
The countdown has begun.

Twin towers in the evening,
A symbol of your freedom;
America sleeping soundly
Unaware of what's to come.

Twin towers in the dawning,
A symbol of the past;
America wakens slowly
To terrorism's deadly game.

Twin towers in the morning,
A symbol of a madman's hate;
America watches live broadcasts
As planes cause fear and death.

Twin towers gone by noontime,
A symbol now of death;
America stunned beyond belief,
Awakened from innocence.

Twin towers reduced to skeletons,
A symbol of true grit;
America at war with terrorism -
A sleeping giant's wrath unleashed.

[Lost Snail]

A moving piece on a tragic subject, but, given the United States' actions over the past half century, is it really right to call it 'a sleeping giant...awakened from innocence'?

[Barry W. Metcalf]

Of course, you're right, Lostsnail. What I was doing here was taking a little poetic licence with the situation re. the US and the terrorists. America had been waiting for an excuse to attack Iraq again, but they were caught napping when it came to this and the other attacks on September 11. In a sense, this entitles them to be called 'a sleeping giant'.

[Lost Snail]

I see what you mean, it ws just the word 'innocence' I had a problem with. Lovely poem in general though.

Deadly countdown to the tragic events. Builds up a fair bit of tension and amounts to an effective poem.

Congrats! I'm sure it echoes a lot of peoples thoughts on the events.

[Evrviglnt]

It's a tricky subject, the Twin Towers and America, but you did it tastefully. Being the world's lone superpower means having to take on the responsibility for the safety of more countries than just your own, invariably there are going to be those who can't see beyond their noses about the complexity of a world constantly in flux.

That's one of the reasons I'm proud to be an American...we have the power to protect and project - and the world is better off for it...

[Lost Snail]

Whether they know it or not, right?

[Barry W. Metcalf]

Spot on, everyone.

And, yes, it was a tricky subject (even for a non-American). I wrote this the day following the tragic events of September 11 and wanted to capture both the horror and the cold-blooded way the plan was implemented. Hence, the step-by-step approach. I also wanted to leave the reader thinking about where this all might lead.

Glad you folks enjoyed this.

Cheers, Barry.

[Ravane]

Good job. When did you write this?

[Lost Snail]

September the 12th it would seem......