[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 127 (Wednesday, October 2, 2002)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1713-E1714]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNITION OF “TOWERS OF LIGHT” BY DOROTHY DIEMER HENDRY

                                 ______
                                 

                    HON. ROBERT E. (BUD) CRAMER, JR.

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, October 1, 2002

  Mr. CRAMER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to share with the House of 
Representatives a poem written by one of my constituents, Dorothy 
Diemer Hendry of Huntsville, Alabama. The poem, “Towers of 
Light,” was written at the time of the 1-year anniversary of 
September 11 and provides us with hope and encouragement that we can 
become towers of light in this world. I am pleased to share this poem 
with you today.

                     “Towers of Light”

                       (By Dorothy Diemer Hendry)

     Two shafts of light
     stream down through clouds

[[Page E1714]]

     to bedrock of a crater
     cleared of rubble and bones.

     We look up, up, up
     these twin towers of light
     until we must shield our eyes
     from their source, more luminous
     than sun and moon and stars.

     What is the source?
     Not firestorm of planes
     commandeered and exploded
     in misbegotten piety and hate.
     Not savage burning of
     “heathen” temples or churches,
     mosques or synagogues.
     Not merciless holocaust
     of “enemy” fields and forests,
     schools and homes and people.

     The source of light may
     go by different names in
     your religion and mine,
     yet somehow the twin towers
     remind us of two neighbors filled
     with the radiance of the Golden Rule.

     Neighbor from anywhere,
     let us not quarrel about
     holy names and ancient cruelties.
     Let us fill the crater with loam
     and plant a new garden on Earth.
     In honor of heroes and loved ones,
     let us summon the courage, wisdom,
     and kindness to dwell in mutual peace.
     Can we not become towers of light?

     

                          ____________________