Metro North at Spuyten Duyvil, 7: 30 a.m. 9/11/01 by Bill Sweeney

On the morning of September 11th, 2001, shocked Nebraskans convened in Lincoln’s Centennial Mall to grieve together. Over the next several months, vigils and remembrance gatherings were held in the green space spanning the seven blocks between the University of Nebraska’s downtown campus and the Nebraska State Capitol. The Mall, constructed in 1967 to commemorate the state’s centennial, is currently undergoing a revitalization of aesthetics and functionality. September of 2001 in Lincoln was somewhat rainy (two daily record rainfalls) and somewhat warm (a monthly high of 96°), but nothing compared to the catastrophe which had just rocked America. “Metro North at Spuyten Duyvil, 7: 30 a.m. 9/11/01” was published in the Spring 2004 issue of the Prairie Schooner.

by Tory Clower

Metro North at Spuyten Duyvil, 7:30 a.m. 9/11/01

The crash the train makes crossing the bridge
wakes many of them this young morning.

Light reflects off the swells below
and dapples the air of the coach they ride in.

An analyst in her fierce suit drums
her blunt, red nails against the mottled glass.

Opposite, a young trader sleeps on
mouth agape, argyle feet in the aisle.

A foursome, each gray as Nester,
plays hearts with their jackets off.

They are beyond our help already.