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I am a terrified passenger on a hijacked airplane
not knowing where we are going or that I am riding
on fuel tanks that will be instruments of death,
and I am a worker arriving at my office not knowing
that in just a moment my future will be obliterated.
- May I rest in peace.
I am a pigeon in the plaza between the two towers
eating crumbs from someone's breakfast when fire
rains down on me from the skies, and I am a bed
of flowers admired daily by thousands of tourists
now buried under five stories of rubble. - May I
rest in peace.
I am a firefighter sent into dark corridors of smoke
and debris on a mission of mercy only to have it
collapse around me, and I am a rescue worker risking
my life to save lives who is very aware that I may
not make it out alive. - May I rest in peace.
I am a survivor who has fled down the stairs and
out of the building to safety who knows that nothing
will ever be the same in my soul again, and I am
a doctor in a hospital treating patients burned
from head to toe who knows that these horrible images
will remain in my mind forever. - May I know peace.
I am a tourist in Times Square looking up at the
giant TV screens thinking I'm seeing a disaster
movie as I watch the Twin Towers crash to the ground,
and I am a New York woman sending e-mails to friends
and family letting them know that I am safe. - May
I know peace.
I am a piece of paper that was on someone's desk
this morning and now I'm debris scattered by the
wind across lower Manhattan, and I am a stone in
the graveyard at Trinity Church covered with soot
from the buildings that once stood proudly above
me, death meeting death. - May I rest in peace.
I
am a dog sniffing in the rubble for signs of life,
doing my best to be of service, and I am a blood
donor waiting in line to make a simple but very
needed contribution for the victims. - May I know
peace.
I am a resident in an apartment in downtown New
York who has been forced to evacuate my home, and
I am a resident in an apartment uptown who has walked
100 blocks home in a stream of other refugees. -
May I know peace.
I am a family member who has just learned that someone
I love has died, and I am a pastor who must comfort
someone who has suffered a heart-breaking loss.
- May I know peace.
I am a loyal American who feels violated and vows
to stand behind any military action it takes to
wipe terrorists off the face of the earth, and am
a loyal American who feels violated and worries
that people who look and sound like me are all going
to be blamed for this tragedy. - May I know peace.
I am a frightened city dweller who wonders whether
I'll ever feel safe in a skyscraper again, and I
am a pilot who wonders whether there will ever be
a way to make the skies truly safe. - May I know
peace.
I am the owner of a small store with five employees
that has been put out of business by this tragedy,
and I am an executive in a multinational corporation
who is concerned about the cost of doing business
in a terrorized world. - May I know peace.
I am a visitor to New York City who purchases postcards
of the World Trade Center Twin Towers that are no
more, and I am a television reporter trying to put
into words the terrible things I have seen. - May
I know peace.
I am a boy in New Jersey waiting for a father who
will never come home, and I am a boy in a faraway
country rejoicing in the streets of my village because
someone has hurt the hated Americans. - May I know
peace.
I am a general talking into the microphones about
how we must stop the terrorist cowards who have
perpetrated this heinous crime, and I am an intelligence
officer trying to discern how such a thing could
have happened on American soil, and I am a city
official trying to find ways to alleviate the suffering
of my people. - May I know peace.
I am a terrorist whose hatred for America knows
no limit and I am willing to die to prove it, and
I am a terrorist sympathizer standing with all the
enemies of American capitalism and imperialism,
and I am a master strategist for a terrorist group
who planned this abomination. My heart is not yet
capable of openness, tolerance, and loving. - May
I know peace.
I am a citizen of the world glued to my television
set, fighting back my rage and despair at these
horrible events, and I am a person of faith struggling
to forgive the unforgivable, praying for the consolation
of those who have lost loved ones, calling upon
the merciful beneficence of God/Lord/Allah/Spirit/Higher
Power. - May I know peace.
I am a child of God who believes that we are all
children of God and we are all part of one another.
- May we all know peace.
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