The Day After

September 12thI remember that day,as we all doAnd I remember the day after.The sky a crystal clear blueThe air crisp but warmthe way it is withsummer in September.The school field glistening with dew.I'm sure I was wearingsome big knitted sweater,the kind that you pairedwith Birkenstocksand twine braceletsand smelled like wool.Earthy + itchy + full of love.I'm sure my parents went towork that day,though maybe my mom stayed home,folding load after loadof laundryin front of the endless news cycleof a plan crashing into abuildingon aloop.Even though I grew up on Long IslandI didn't understandwhat or where the"Twin Towers" wereBut as we walked outsidewith our science lab supplies,off to collect samples ofdirt, or ants, or leavesI remember smelling something elseon the windLike hot tar or burning rubber.And my science teacher, in her braveryto treat us like adults said,"It's the city burning."We were only 50 miles awayfrom it all.And that is when it became real,this weight that I carryas a high school kidfrom New Yorkthe day after the towers fell.