Joan McNerney’s most recent poem to appear here was Haiku Music, published as part of Contributor Series 9: If Men Had Ears in July 2011. About this poem Joan says: “I never wrote about it before but just had to. I used to work there.”
Survivor Tree
By Joan McNerney
By Joan McNerney
There in the core of the
World Trade Center
this pear tree stands.
It grew from ash of bodies
clasping hands falling in air.
Cared for by those who
believe in life.
Now reaching for heaven
despite the hatred of men
screaming in streets.
Look how sunlight touches
each leaf. Think of
every leaf being
completely unique.
There are none so blind
as will not see all
God has given us.
I saw that tree for the first time last night, on the 9/11 remembrance documentary I watched. Thank you for paying tribute to it. Beautiful.
Out of every disaster a twig will grow.
Nice poem for this tenth anniversary.
What a beautiful tribute not just to this tree of life but to those who you have remembered in your verse about every leaf being unique and being touched by the sunlight.