Fallen and Gone (Not Long After Dawn)

Oh, say, did you see, not long after morning's light
When we looked to the sky as our faces turned white
On a cool Tuesday morning with sky full of blue.
A new day beginning, if only we knew.
 
It began with the noise of engine drones
So loud it made people put down their phones.
Sudden and frightening it came into view
A sight that threw all our logic askew.  
 
A silver projectile that moved in slow-motion
Came in too low and caused a commotion.
Together we wondered where it was heading;
The answer is one we'd soon all be dreading.
 
We stood there aghast as our brains did the math:
A tower of grey stood right in its path.
Brutal and quick it was hit with a force
That shook our cores with no sign of remorse.
 
Shocked and bewildered, hardly anyone spoke
As grey turned to black in a column of smoke.
From the gaping hole came a dull orange glow
Leaving those above with nowhere to go.
 
Just when we thought things couldn't get worse
Déjà vu struck like a sick curse.
The tower of grey had a sister beside her
She, too, was hit with no less horror.
 
Sirens grew closer with trucks full of men
Who rushed to the flames time and again.
In the towers they went to the aid of strangers
No matter the cost, no matter the dangers.
 
In the stairwells came down the people in fright
They knew not where to go in the space without light.
Many were saved by the brave and the bold
Whose ultimate fate was soon to unfold.
 
Late in the morning the first tower rumbled
And straight to the ground the structure crumbled.
Not long after, as the smoke still surged
The sister fell, and the wreckage merged.
 
As the ash came forth to blot out the sun,
Down on the ground, it caused us to run.
Not fast enough, we were caught in the deluge
But still we sought a place of refuge.
 
Slowly we turned as the dust cleared
Our eyes and our hearts still full of fear.
The grief in the crowd went all but unspoken
The towers were gone, now twisted and broken.
 
Smoldering piles of rock and metal
Still unstable, but beginning to settle.
A symbol of progress now fallen and gone;
Erased from our vision not long after dawn.
 
Turning for home, we all left on foot
Our bodies and clothing adorned in soot.
Our families we hugged as we walked through the door
Telling the tale we had to endure.
 
The story is told by those who remember
Horrific sights from that fateful September.
It fills many with anger and more with sadness,
And still many others a reluctant gladness.
 
Oh, say, did you see, not long after morning's light
When we looked to the sky as our faces turned white
On a cool Tuesday morning with sky full of blue.
A new day beginning, if only we knew.
 
***My goal is to be descriptive without being gory and graphic. This is for the younger ones who don't understand why so many of us have strong feelings about the event.***