Where were you?
World events through the eyes of a child
They always ask where you were,
When things happened that changed the world.
I never know how to explain,
For most of those things I was a little girl.
I wasn’t of an age quiet yet,
That I would really wonder why.
Clinton had a scandal,
And we all lost Princess Di.
These things didn’t mean a lot to me
I could not process big news yet.
But somehow I could quote all of Friends
Including jokes that I did not get.
We started exploring Mars
And had the Gulf War
But things like Toy Story’s release
Are the things I remember more.
But one morning I awoke
To watch our usual shows.
Only to see a plane hit a building,
And watching it explode.
I flicked the channel over again
But it was on that one too.
“This movie stinks,” I cried.
As I tied my school shoe.
Off I went to school,
Annoyed I has missed my cartoon hour.
But soon found out
That it was the real twin towers.
Every newspaper, magazine and tv
Showed this for many days
This is the first time I really remember
And how it affected in many ways.
I do remember other events
But nothing to this scale.
Diana’s death has made me sad
But this day made me wail.
So many went off to work
Kissed their kids goodbye
Thinking there were off to the office
Not on their way to die.
Seeing people jump from high
Because it was a better way to go.
Is a memory that fills my brain
About pain I’ll never know.
Who knew a day could change
So much about how you feel.
I could no longer hide in movies
Because this world was real.
About the Creator
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More stories from Carolyn Sternes and writers in Poets and other communities.
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If I were asked to remark on my life and the childhood that paved some road leading me to this point, I would have to say something about all the funny people who surrounded me for the last 26,872 days (and counting). Somewhere along that road, I became a big fan of laughter and the comedy that spawns it – and, I mean not only my own laughter, but the laughter of others, some of which I have actually been responsible for inducing.
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Comments (1)
The imagery remembered here is 'bona fide factuals.' The events throughout history have 'sticking-places' in the minds and hearts of the population. Children are particularly sensitive and (I think mercifully so) are generally without the capacity to fully process what's going on...it would destroy essential parts of them newly forming. Still, we were there and watched. I was the "strange child" with a penchant for world news, a Cancerian to boot. There are things that I saw that remain a bleeding wound within me, mostly in Palestine. I could not understand how humans could be so merciless and uncaring, especially to unarmed children. I don't know how I managed to survive with my sensitivity intact, but there was definitely some divinity involved. From a perspective that lived in what seems another lifetime, I really appreciate your poem and thank you for writing it.