[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 14 (Thursday, February 14, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E157]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                                TRAGEDY

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOHN B. LARSON

                             of connecticut

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, February 13, 2002

  Mr. LARSON of Connecticut. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to submit a poem 
written by Ariel Mason, a fifth grader in my Congressional District. 
Written only a few days after the tragic events of September 11th, 
Ariel's poem illustrates the depth and immediacy to which the youth of 
our Nation was touched and changed by that infamous day.

Tragedy
The skies have fallen upon our nation
The horror is overwhelming
We did nothing to deserve such cruelty
Disaster
So many innocent lives lost
To show the shadows of cackling evil
The emptiness is immense
Loyalty
Through the anguishing troubles I will
Stand proudly by the sides of my fellow Americans
And help as I may
To pull this country together once more
Pain
Sheer, pulsing pain
Coursing through the veins of victims
Both physically and mentally wounded
Troubles
Broken hearts weep sullenly
Filled with the shattered endearment
Of their lost companions
Killed by the dark-doings of murderous
Men, so like us, but gruesomely different
Mourning
America's tallest towers
So proud and free
Lost to deathly claws of our invisible attackers
Emotion
We must fight for our proof of innocence
Our dedication to our blessed land
Forever great, throughout all of eternity
Questions
Why? Who could be so terrible?
Only a luring shadow, cold and black as night
Holds our answers
Though stubbornly refusing to share them
Love
Is all we can give
To help our nation through such troubles
To be the best we can
Life ends here for many
And we cherish memories with them
But for us life will continue
Though we carry this ugly burden of a memory
Forever more
Peace
Is our solitary hope

  Mr. Speaker, I commend Ariel Mason for so bravely and honestly 
writing this poem. As we begin to comprehend the extent to which the 
terrorist attacks of September 11th have affected us personally, we 
should look to expressions of emotion like Ariel's to help work through 
our own pain and confusion, and to remind us that in the face of 
adversity we as a country will persevere through this national tragedy.

                          ____________________