Were you at Ground Zero today?
Did you help move the rubble that still stands in the way?
Did you smell the acrid air from which you cannot seem to hide?
Did you hear the deafening silence as they found another body there inside?

Were you at Ground Zero today?
Did you bring drinks to the rescuers who come back every day?
Did you leave your job to console the firefighters who can’t explain
why so many comrades had to be slain?

No, you were not there, but how did you know
how bad the odor is or how long the death toll goes?
You must have been there to be so kind to us all.
You had to see the devastation to get such a call.

Yes, you were at Ground Zero today.
You were there when you wrote me the words you just couldn’t say.
You were there when you cooked a meal for my home.
Or when you just listened to me cry on the phone.

Yes, you were at Ground Zero today.
You were there as you helped me pick the prayers we would say.
You were there as you sang at the Holy Mass.
You were there as we joked at his most lively repast.

Yes, you were at Ground Zero today,
when you did my work so I could stay home another day.
Or when you came over to help clean up the mess
And never asked why we were leaving the rest.

Yes, you were at Ground Zero today.
When you made a donation, the third one that day.
When you gave us a discount or gave it to us for free
because somehow you shared the pain of my whole family.

And, you were at Ground Zero today.
When you listened to what my child had to say.
And when you made any child smile you lifted the load.
As surely as the iron is being lifted from the road.

I think Ground Zero is not a certain place.
I think it is all around us, it takes up much more space.
For it didn’t just fill up city blocks all around.
It filled up our hearts and it made our hearts pound.

We all stopped and looked about at what has been done.
We’re all crying for ourselves and we’re crying for someone.
And we shall overcome, overcome we must do.
But I can’t do it alone and neither can you.

Together we were at Ground Zero today.
And together we’re moving what stands in the way.
Together we’ll help the helpers and console those who remain.
And together we will ask God to help with the pain.

We all cannot be at that one sacred spot.
But when we care for each other we are doing a lot.
So, I’ll see you on the journey as we go
Back to the place we call Ground Zero.
 

Mary Cudina
October 5, 2001