This is Jimmy Tingle, and I'm a comedian here in the Boston area. And in the days and weeks following Sept. 11, it was a very sad time, obviously, not a time for comedy, so my creativity came out in the form of this poem.Watch Jimmy recite "9/11: Prayer for America":
http://video.wgbh.org/video/2277747278/
“9/11: Prayer for America"
There’s a hole in the tip of Manhattan
A hole in the soul of America
A hole in the center of our psyche
A hole in the foundation of our confidence
There's a hole in the faith of our country
that fills churches in search of a God
There's a crack in the national mirror
empty chairs around the family table
dark houses of our missing neighbors
Vacant desks of our absent workers
On our streets,
There’s a wail from the widows with candles
sobs from the orphaned with pictures
the face breaks on the lawyer, the dead woman's husband
flags and flowers for the public servants
There's a hole in the soul of America
Afraid with the televised pictures
Numb with the morning papers
Grieving for the land they loved
Grieving for the land they lost
Grieving for the innocent victims
Grieving for the broken families
Grieving for the friends still weeping
Grieving for the ones who fight fire
Grieving for the ones who fight crime
Grieving for the volunteers by the thousands
Grieving for the city that never sleeps
Grieving for the city on a hill
There's a hole in the soul of humanity
And I pray for all of our leaders
Good people and well-intentioned
Condemned to retaliation
Doomed to retribution
Sentenced to seek revenge
And we pray for those who go marching
Toward an enemy they can't even see
Brave in the shadow of their fathers, Brave in the duty of history
Brave in the madness, Brave in the sadness, Brave in the blindness
And we pray to the Prophets of History
Privy to the word of God
Moses on the mountain with those 10 Commandments
We all tend to ignore them, they’re so damn inconvenient
Jesus on the cross for the love of his neighbors,
Jesus on the cross for the love of his enemies
Mohammed in the Koran with words that escape fanatic followers abusing religion with hate
But the Koran is clear : “If you destroy one life, it’s as if you destroyed the whole world
If you save one life, it’s as if you saved the whole world”
And God cries from the tablets on top of Mount Sinai Save the world
And God cries his last breath from the Cross on Good Friday
Save the world
And God cries from the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem
Save the world
And God cries and God cries and God cries
There is a hole in the soul of His Children
Love can fill the hole
And they say that God is love
And we ask, ”Where is God?”
Strangers with shovels on the Tip of Manhattan
fill the hole
Firefighters from Boston and Chicago drive to New York City to help find their brothers and sisters
fill the hole
Hollywood stars raise millions for victims
Benefits and fundraisers and letters and cards
Boston Red Sox fans in Fenway Park sing we love New York
Fill the hole
And the Mayor
fills the hole
and the governor
fills the hole
and the president
fills the hole
and the media
fill the hole
The interfaith prayer services on the steps of City Hall fill the hole
Neighbors in the park with candles
Try to comfort the missing girl’s roommates
she was on the 106th floor that Tuesday morning
Candlelight vigils for peace
fill the hole
Young people in uniform for war
fill the hole
Flags at half-mast and flags in our windows
the Star-Spangled Banner and the prayer of St. Francis
The Star of David, the teachings of Islam and the letters of Paul fill the hole
And the hole in our soul is our cross to bear
And that cross to bear fills the hole
> > Read and listen to WGBH News' 10-year anniversary coverage of 9/11
