September 11th, 2009

Today is September 11th. A day that for eight years now, is more often referred to as "9/11". I believe that it is not just on this day that we remember that planes hit the Twin Towers in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. It is not only today that we think about those who lost their lives and the emergency teams that gave their all at the consequence of their physical and emotional health.

I find it fitting to post this video. Here is folksinger, poet, and political activist Ani Difranco reading the poem she wrote in 2001. The poem speaks to the events that took place on 9/11 and is entitled "Self-Evident."


Ani Difranco reads her poem "Self-Evident" at the 92nd Street Y on 12/16/07

Self-Evident

yes, 
us people are just poems 
we're 90% metaphor 
with a leanness of meaning 
approaching hyper-distillation 
and once upon a time 
we were moonshine 
rushing down the throat of a giraffe 
yes, rushing down the long hallway 
despite what the p.a. announcement says 
yes, rushing down the long stairs 
with the whiskey of eternity 
fermented and distilled 
to eighteen minutes 
burning down our throats 
down the hall 
down the stairs 
in a building so tall 
that it will always be there 
yes, it's part of a pair 
there on the bow of noah's ark 
the most prestigious couple 
just kickin back parked 
against a perfectly blue sky 
on a morning beatific 
in its indian summer breeze 
on the day that america 
fell to its knees 
after strutting around for a century 
without saying thank you 
or please 

and the shock was subsonic 
and the smoke was deafening 
between the setup and the punch line 
cuz we were all on time for work that day 
we all boarded that plane for to fly 
and then while the fires were raging 
we all climbed up on the windowsill 
and then we all held hands 
and jumped into the sky 

and every borough looked up when it heard
the first blast 
and then every dumb action movie was
summarily surpassed 
and the exodus uptown by foot and motorcar 
looked more like war than anything i've seen
so far 
so far 
so far 
so fierce and ingenious 
a poetic specter so far gone 
that every jackass newscaster was struck
dumb and stumbling 
over 'oh my god' and 'this is unbelievable'
and on and on 
and i'll tell you what, while we're at it 
you can keep the pentagon 
keep the propaganda 
keep each and every tv 
that's been trying to convince me 
to participate 
in some prep school punk's plan to
perpetuate retribution 
perpetuate retribution 
even as the blue toxic smoke of our lesson
in retribution 
is still hanging in the air 
and there's ash on our shoes 
and there's ash in our hair 
and there's a fine silt on every mantle 
from hell's kitchen to brooklyn 
and the streets are full of stories 
sudden twists and near misses 
and soon every open bar is crammed to
the rafters 
with tales of narrowly averted disasters 
and the whiskey is flowin 
like never before 
as all over the country 
folks just shake their heads 
and pour 

so here's a toast to all the folks who
live in palestine 
afghanistan 
iraq 
el salvador 

here's a toast to the folks living on the
pine ridge
reservation 
under the stone cold gaze of mt. rushmore 

here's a toast to all those nurses and doctors 
who daily provide women with a choice 
who stand down a threat the size of
oklahoma city 
just to listen to a young woman's voice 

here's a toast to all the folks on death
row right now 
awaiting the executioner's guillotine 
who are shackled there with dread and
can only escape into their heads 
to find peace in the form of a dream 

cuz take away our playstations 
and we are a third world nation 
under the thumb of some blue blood
royal son 
who stole the oval office and that
phony election 
i mean 
it don't take a weatherman 
to look around and see the weather 
jeb said he'd deliver florida, folks 
and boy did he ever 

and we hold these truths to be self evident: 
#1 george w. bush is not president 
#2 america is not a true democracy 
#3 the media is not fooling me 
cuz i am a poem heeding
hyper-distillation 
i've got no room for a lie so verbose 
i'm looking out over my whole
human family 
and i'm raising my glass in a toast 

here's to our last drink of fossil fuels 
let us vow to get off of this sauce 
shoo away the swarms of commuter
planes 
and find that train ticket we lost 
cuz once upon a time the line followed
the river 
and peeked into all the backyards 
and the laundry was waving 
the graffiti was teasing us 
from brick walls and bridges 
we were rolling over ridges 
through valleys 
under stars 
i dream of touring like duke ellington 
in my own railroad car 
i dream of waiting on the tall blonde wooden
benches 
in a grand station aglow with grace 
and then standing out on the platform 
and feeling the air on my face 

give back the night its distant whistle 
give the darkness back its soul 
give the big oil companies the finger finally 
and relearn how to rock-n-roll 
yes, the lessons are all around us and a
change is waiting there 
so it's time to pick through the rubble, clean the
streets 
and clear the air 
get our government to pull its big dick out of the
sand 
of someone else's desert 
put it back in its pants 
and quit the hypocritical chants of 
freedom forever 

cuz when one lone phone rang 
in two thousand and one 
at ten after nine 
on nine one one 
which is the number we all called 
when that lone phone rang right off the wall 
right off our desk and down the long hall 
down the long stairs 
in a building so tall 
that the whole world turned 
just to watch it fall 

and while we're at it 
remember the first time around? 
the bomb? 
the ryder truck? 
the parking garage? 
the princess that didn't even feel the pea? 
remember joking around in our
apartment on avenue D? 

can you imagine how many paper coffee cups
would have to change their design 
following a fantastical reversal of
the new york skyline?! 

it was a joke, of course 
it was a joke 
at the time 
and that was just a few years ago 
so let the record show 
that the FBI was all over that case 
that the plot was obvious and
in everybody's face 
and scoping that scene 
religiously 
the CIA 
or is it KGB? 
committing countless crimes against
humanity 
with this kind of eventuality 
as its excuse 
for abuse after expensive abuse 
and it didn't have a clue 
look, another window to see through 
way up here 
on the 104th floor 
look 
another key 
another door 
10% literal 
90% metaphor 
3000 some poems disguised as people 
on an almost too perfect day 
should be more than pawns 
in some asshole's passion play 
so now it's your job 
and it's my job 
to make it that way 
to make sure they didn't die in vain 
sshhhhhh.... 
baby listen 
hear the train? 

To learn more about Ani Difranco go to her website RighteousBabe.com, or her myspace page, her facebook page or her Twitter page.



Ani Difranco (aka "The Little Folksinger" as she is often known) created her own record label Righteous Babe Records in 1990 (at the age of 19) and has released an album every year since. She has collaborated with the likes of Prince, Maceo Parker, Cindy Lauper, Andrew Bird, Bob Dylan and more.