-={ To read previous 'Thoughts' on this page, visit the Archive of Past 'Thoughts' Postings }=-
ImagineImagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
Living for today...Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...You may say I'm a dreamer,
But I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...You may say I'm a dreamer,
But I'm not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.--John Lennon, 1970
posted by John Khuu 2:00:13 PM
12:37 PM 09/11/2001What can I do? What do I say? What is there to think about?
Four hours ago approximately, the United States of America was attacked by terrorist acts. . . two domestic, carrier planes crashed into the World Trade Center Towers in New York City then a jet plane crashing into the Pentagon and possible other incidents around the nation--yet unconfirmed.How does the United States react? Retaliation. That's the immediate thought. And perhaps an instinct. But that's not a thought that should continue without heavy thought, consideration, and meditation. With war and retaliation, there comes an equivalent force as nature dictates an action of force is returned with an equal and opposite reaction of force. Or in parables, the simplistic saying of you get what you give.
But what does an American citizen do now? A patron of a nation that symbolizes democracy, freedom, and independence. And earlier President Bush stated, "Freedom was attacked. And Freedom will be defended." But what does anyone do now in the United States while defense and strategy is being planned? Sit and quiver of the "terrible, terrible tradedy that has befallen [our] nation"? (Second quote from Secretary of Defense Colin Powell)
My body is filled with chills and goosebumps resonating from the news casts and from watching for the first time the intentional crashing of the second World Trade Center tower. My mind is filled with horror and fear, but not retaliation. What does one feel who survived (if at all) the crashes in the Manhattan area of New York? My eyes filled with a blur that can only be cleared by blinking and realizing the horror before this nation.
It's a Tuesday. . . of the year 2001. Is the end so near for a nation and its legacy? The year is the beginning of a new millennium and a new century. I recall hearing small-talk speculations before in middle school that the United States was going to go down in 2000. And I thought of that as such small-talk. Of course, this may not be a real fall of the United States, but more than close enough to consider itself the beginning. Is the Apocalypse approaching? Have we seen the lit match light the spilt tank of fuel?
Finally, this is the forceful, wake-up call that has been building up gradually in this nation. We've seen in the past the small nudges of this nation to wake up and realize our vulnerability. The 1993 terrorist bombing of the World Trade Center. The Oklahoma City Federal Building Bombing in 1995 by U.S. citizen Timothy McVeigh. The 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. And now. . . the multi-attacks of the 'heart' of America: New York and Washington D.C.
1:47 PM 09/11/01
10:38 PM 09/11/2001
No longer does my generation and other generations find the history textbooks on war and terrorist attacks be limited in a one-dimensional page. History has now come to us. Terrorist acts finally acting upon the United States upon us this day forth. We are learning that we are. . . We are vulnerable.
Vulnerability derives from our own nationalistic pride of our sovereignty over other nations. The flag flys high. The flag flys at half staff. Our heads hang low and weep in a unison equivalent to that of amateur choir singers.
But some of us knew this day was approaching. Bound to happen sooner. . . or later. Today was that day. Our vulnerability does not mean our defeat. From our weaknesses, we can meditate and focus on our strengths. From our openmindness, we can concentrate in dealing with our weakness. From our fears, we can conquer our tragedies and unveil the light from the smoke and ashes. From my words, we can be sensitive to the events and issues at stake, and not forsake the unclothed soul from sharing and feeling the emotions that this tragic, awesome, emotion-filled tradedy can rain upon us if we only open our petals.
Tonight, many have gathered in different groups together to seek refuge and comfort within the company of others through calm words and spoken prayers to their Lord, their gods, their deities. I sat upon one gathering at the University to seek a sense of comfort and sensitivity that was lacking in some of my friends and people around the world. Yet, however, tragic today--September 11, 2001 (two months before November 11 (Veteran's Day))--is, we will overcome our fears, our weaknesses, and our suffering, if we let ourselves exist selfishlessly and accept each other as we were breathed upon this earth.
Where this nation goes from here, I don't know. When the world of nations ceases fire, I can't imagine. What is in store for us from this day forth, I won't seek.
Rather, I know where I go from here. I imagine myself in stopping my own ignorance, bigotry, insensitivity within the boundaries of my mind. I seek my peace from meditation and thoughts from myself and others.
Tonight, I sleep. Tomorrow, I wake. Tomorrow, I live again--content with my existence and flurried thoughts.
I end this self-forum of thoughts with two song quotes. . .
"Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what did you see, my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it,
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin',
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin',
I saw a white ladder all covered with water,
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken,
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,
And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall."
--Bob Dylan (A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall)and. . .
""Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you."
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed in the wells of silence.And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming.
And the signs said: "The words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls,
And whisper'd in the sound of silence.""
--Simon & Garfunkel (The Sound Of Silence)May we be able to sleep tonight. May we have an open-mind and sensitivity towards the events and issues at hand. May we live to see the next generations live in harmony with one another.
Goodnight and peace to all.
from the desk of. . .
John Khuu
Gainesville, Florida
United States Of America11:27 PM 09/11/2001
posted by John Khuu 1:23:57 PM
"Things are changing
But nothing changes
And still there are changes
Le roi est mort, vive le roi! [The king is dead, long live the king!]
There is no teacher
Who can teach anything new
He can just help us to remember
The things we always knew"
--Enigma (Odyessy Of The Mind)
Here on this page, I will lay upon to you, the reader, my thoughts that are not intended to teach but to remind us all of our past, mistakes, lessons, and all things that shape our lives.
posted by John Khuu 10:30PM
Woohoo, you are the 
th person to visit this page. I appreciate your visit to my poetry caf?
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