Poetry of a Witness; Photograph from September 11th
I chose to write about the poem “Photograph from September 11th” by: Wislawa Szymborska. I witnessed the events that day along with millions of others. It is something I will never forget. To me poetry of a witness means poems that are based on true events that someone has witnessed. The author might be writing a poem about something they have seen firsthand or something that they might have heard about. It might be their interpretation of someone else’s story. They might be sharing these stories because they feel someone needs to hear it.
In the poem “Photograph from September 11th” the author is talking about a photograph she had seen that was taken from that fateful day. Szymborska write’s “They jumped from the burning floors one, two, a few more, higher, lower” (Szymborska1) that image is one a lot of people will never forget. Wislawa Szymborska writes what she is witnessing through a photograph someone else took of that day. Witnessing something so tragic is something you can never forget. The photograph and the poem are something to honor the lives lost and to educate the generations to come on what happened that September day.
The photograph was taken as the second tower fell. In the poem the line where Szymborska writes “The photograph halted them in life, and now keeps them above the earth toward the earth.” (Szymborska1) I think she is referring to the people who are deciding to jump with a small possibility of surviving rather than falling with the burning building. “Each is still complete, with a particular face and blood well hidden” (Szymborska1) she wants us to remember them for the courage.
There’s enough time for hair to come loose, for keys and coins to fall from pockets” (Szymborska1) I think what Szymborska is saying is time stood still for the people who were falling, help couldn’t come fast enough and seconds seemed to last a lifetime. As for the people on the ground witnessing this it seems to go quickly. Hearts were racing, and people were trying to find ways to catch the falling victims. The witnesses on the ground were trying to make quick decisions on what they could do to help.
To be a witness on that tragic day is something I’ll never forget. I can relate to the poem and to the photograph. I wasn’t there but I was glued to the television watching the news as were millions of others that day. I witnessed the first and second plane hit. I was scared and unsure of what else was going to take place that day. I was sad for the families of the people who were killed and who were missing in the rubble. They would broadcast family members holding photographs of their loved ones in hopes of finding them alive. That day there were billions of witnesses. The president and billions of other people conducted a worldwide moment of silence for the victims of September 11th and I think with the ending of her poem Wislawa Szymborska does the same.
The last paragraph says it all “I can do only two things for them, describe this flight and not add a last line.” (Szymborska1) It was Szymborskas way of holding on to their memories and also having her own moment of silence for the victims of September 11th. To be able to give them some honor and some peace. It has a special meaning for Szymborskas and we may never know what her thoughts were behind that last line.
Works cited
Symborska, Wislawa. “Photograph of September 11.” Poetryfoundation.org. Poetry Foundation, 2010.Web. 17 February 2011.
Links: http://www.sept11thmemorial.com/ http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178603 http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1996/szymborska-bio.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11_attacks http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1000761,00.htmlI got my Images from:
http://www.september11news.com/AttackImages.htm http://soe.ucdavis.edu/ss0809/BussC/ http://www.desktoprating.com/wallpapers/americeaglewallpaper800x600.htm http://www.chinohills.com/newsarticlesdetails/Calvary_Chapel_Chino_Hills_to_Hold_9_11_Memorial-890 http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/click/highlight.php?id=114
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