An America Like 9/12 Poem by Mackenzie K. Wertman

I want an America like 9/12
when hate could not be found.
A time when the country came together
and lifted itself off the ground.

It mattered not race nor color
nor background nor design…
all people came together
from across all walks of life.

We stood strong as a nation
beautiful, brave, and bold…
united by a tragedy
that should have never of unfold.

9/11 was our darkest hour,
maybe the most tragic yet…
but 9/12 shined the brightest
and showed America's best.

Heroes came from everywhere,
just the simple average Joes…
the normal American men and women
who courageously left their work and homes.

We stood by one another,
helping hand in hand…
and the call of 'I'm proud to be an American! '
was heard throughout the land.

Old Glory was at Her highest,
waving that mighty Red, White, and Blue…
and not an ounce of shame or disrespect
was cast towards Her Freedom's hue.

They woke the sleeping giant
but its fallen asleep again
and while the giant slumbers,
we don't fight enemies
but our neighbors and our friends.

We turned on one another
and hatred fills our streets,
we even fight with strangers
behind the safety of a screen.

Indivisible seems unlikely.
United even worse.
A land once called the melting pot
has trouble with being diverse.

We need to learn to love again
and get out of this daze
and realize that what unites us
is our differences of ways.

Whether you're left, right, or neutral,
black, white, green, or blue,
We are all Americans
and that alone should honor you.

Our flag still stands for Freedom,
they can't take that away,
it's the government that holds Her,
that is leading you astray.

I was a child on 9/11
but I'm not so young anymore
and this land built from its memory
has forgotten something at its core.

We the People are United.
We the People are Her strength.
We are stronger than what divides us.
We are the home of the Brave.

So stop with this pointless division.
Stop trying to amend the past.
Let's look to a better future,
like 9/12 did through the ash.

Only then can we prosper forward
and embrace this acclaimed array,
cause America needs another 9/12
without the sorrow of that tragic day.