Writing about Dawn on September 11

It is Thursday, September 11, 2008; I woke up between 3:00 and 3:00 AM this morning. Not as early as I usually wake up, but early enough to be awake when dawn arrives. The arrival of dawn to Las Vegas always brings memories with it. Sometimes those memories are of my childhood and my grandparents. Sometimes those memories are of religious services or other events.

This morning I am remembering dawn on another September 11. Then I worked at a college computer lab in Henderson, Nevada; not a difficult commute from Las Vegas. I remember the alarm clock sounded at 4:00 AM. I got up, turned the alarm off, made coffee, run a bath and contemplated turning on the morning news. Instead, I opted to say morning prayers. I had to be at work about 7:30 or 8:00 AM that morning, so I decided it would be the evening news I watched that day.

I did not find out about the twin towers until I arrived at work. There was no T.V. in the computer room, but that did not matter because we had Internet access. If you have Internet, access a T.V. is not necessary. We kept one of the computers on a news website all day, I am not sure of the website because I was more interested in the news itself that day.

This morning I remember another September 11 dawn. I remember driving to work and hearing the shocking news when I arrived at my job site. I remember receiving the news over the Internet. I remember writing a poem, which was published in a chapbook of 9/11 poems. I remember dawn on September 11.