Rise Up

One World Trade Center, New York City - May 4, 2019

I do not pretend to know what it was like for the people of New York who experienced 9/11. I only know it from my perspective as a mother and second grade teacher in Maine.
Recently I visited New York City for the first time since celebrating my seventh birthday at the World's Fair in 1964. This time my friends and I were there to participate in the 5 Boro Bike Tour and were able to do some sightseeing on Saturday. One place I knew I wanted to visit was the 9/11 Memorial. And, I'm so glad we did.
That experience and this picture were on my mind as I pedaled on Sunday with 32,000 other hearty souls in the pouring rain through the streets of Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brookyn, and across the Verrazzano Bridge to Staten Island.
This poem is an attempt to capture the feelings and sensations of both being at the memorial and participating in the bike tour.

Rise Up

Brokenness

 and the accompanying trauma

are part of living 

on this planet. 

While some tragedies are shared,

each human has their unique story.

Reasons known or not,

effects tangible or difficult to discern,

our narratives are complex

and contain heartache.

Inner reflection,

the exploration of

 deep, achy places

 requires courage, 

determination,

and honesty.

Within the rubble

is the tenacity of the human spirit,

a collective wish for peace,

the goodness and purity of recovery.

We can and do 

rise up

again and again and again.

At times this is hugely visible,

like a towering structure

that seems to stretch 

to the heavens above. 

Other times it's as subtle

as the shared joy of thousands

of like-minded people

pedaling in the same direction 

on a rainy May day

in a city

where resilience, 

rebuilding,

and renewal

are conspicuous, visceral, and true.

Sarah Carlson

May 8, 2019