The Day After

I remember when it happened

Teachers ran in and out of the classroom

Crying, trying to avoid eye contact with the students

Lessons interrupted with encumbrance

Screens turned to news of horror

We could see the smoke from the towers

I was too young to really feel the impact

I only knew it was wrong and evil

I Absorbed the next few months like a sponge,

Mesmerized by the media’s mayhem

I just sat quiet and listened

America was under siege, our soil was tainted

I wrote a book about it that I gifted to my father

Mostly pictures in a vague retelling of what I knew

I was a child eager to understand and be included,

But I took away the worst thing from it

What I remember more is the little boy

Hassan, the one that I called a terrorist

I let myself collapse into hate

All you wanted was to join our group for gym

That look on your face, I swear I’ll never forget

The shame you felt in that moment just for being yourself

I wonder how many more times you heard that

I wonder if that moment lived with you like it lived with me

After all, I hijacked your innocence

I can’t imagine the debris that I left

Wish I could talk to you face-to-face like a man

Shake your hand and show you I’ve grown

Ask for your forgiveness and respect if you didn’t

Just so you know bullies can be better

I hope you’re doing well friend

I’m sorry, for the day after