Finding the Line

There is a line 

Some days 

It can be hard to find 

Amid the constant clamor 

In the days following 

Still in the rawness of it 

There was fear bordering panic

There was anger and rage 

There was confusion and hatred 

There was a misleading unity 

There was a quickness to blame 

And a slowness to understand 

There was a malingering suspicion 

There was, facing the world 

In full and living color 

The worst of us 

Yet, there was unity 

There was community 

There was determination and resolve 

There was a national pride  

There were, in those days 

(And seems to still be) 

Fear mongers and hope bringers 

Filling the airways 

There is a line 

Some days 

It can be hard to find 

Amid the constant clamor 

The line is between 

Panic and ignorance 

Hatred and delusion 

Fear and oblivion 

It is vigilance 

Without prejudice 

It is caution 

With respect 

It is revering 

Those who lost their lives

And those who sacrificed theirs 

To save others 

It is communities 

Helping communities 

It is one nation 

Indivisible 

It is a line for all 

Patriots, globalists 

All genders, all sexualities 

All races, all creeds 

Every day 

I strive to find the line 

And especially today 

September 11

© Ron Simpson Jr. 

September 11, 2023