Can anything more or new be said about the morning hours that have become the demarcation of before and after in the modern history of America? Some, like the mayor of New York, the physical epicenter of our national emotional trauma, will rely on borrowed words from our nation's historical documents, which articulate who we are and what we believe as the longest-surviving truly democratic republic in the world. This decision to read from hallowed documents penned decades ago represents an inability to find a way to insulate the day from political exploitation as well as a recognition of the limited ability of our political leaders to articulate in noble and memorable tones, words and ideas that can comfort or inspire or deepen our understanding of the place that this event has in the history of the world and in the private consciousness of individual people.
In both the near and distant future, it is not politicians to whom we, as humans and not just as Americans, will look to for expressions that touch our soul.
In our modern democracy with its increasingly impoverished speech, it is to those whose means of expression have historically always been the voice we could hear above the political and media-driven noise to whom we will turn. Thus, it is the poets, artists, musicians, composers and writers to whom we turn to provide the articulation of the meaning of history's enlarging litany of atrocities and injustices of which 9/11 is only a recent example. This has been true throughout history as it is Homer that we read to understand the Trojan War (The Iliad) and its aftermath (The Odyssey). It is Picasso who provided the image that captured the horror of fascism in the Spanish Civil War. It is Auden's prescient poem,
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.