25 years later

 

You died that morning –

Before the wars,

Before the world changed,

Before technology put the whole world

Inside a small glowing screen.

 

Twenty-five years have passed.

 

Your children grew up without you.

Some graduated,

Fell in love, got married

And had children of their own.

 

You never saw their first steps,

their first day of school,

their graduations,

their weddings,

You never held grandchildren

you should have known.

 

Your spouses learned how to live

With an empty chair at the table.

Your parents grew older

carrying grief that never truly left.

 

And while your families changed,

so did the world.

 

Technology exploded around us.

Phones became lifelines.

Social media is prevalent.

Artificial intelligence can write poetry,

And Alexa immitates the human voice.

 

But nothing we invented

Could give your familily

One more birthday,

One more holiday,

One more hug.

 

You never saw the world

Twenty-five years later

 

You never got your tomorrow.

So today we remember

Not only how you died,

But everything you missed.

 

The marriages,

The grandchildren

The ordinary days

And the funerals of loved ones

Because you weren’t there.

 

Twenty-five years have passed,

 

The world moved forward.

A new tower was built in 2014.

One World Trade Center,

The Freedom Tower

 

Memorial fountains are where

The towers used to be

Inscribed with all the names

Of those who perished

Your friends and loved ones

Are now older

A new generation

Wasn't alive back then

 

But you'll always remain

Forever young,

Forever loved,

Forever in that morning.

On September 11, two thousand and one

 

8/23/2026 by, Chat GPT & Randee Saber