after september eleventh.

after september eleventh, patriotism thrived.

american flags flew from store racks and onto façades

hats from our heads and hands on our hearts we frolicked, shouting

“god bless america” from rooftops at the top of our lungs

terrorism shook the foundation of the biggest buildings

but couldn’t shake the foundation of the country

crucifixed cross beams and pulverulent star-spangled banners

maintained the faith that america is a phoenix,

and from the ashes, it would rise

after september eleventh, we said never forget.

this day was dubbed as one to live in infamy like pearl harbor’s sister

we declared nine eleven would transcend time’s confinement

the lives of the two thousand nine hundred seventy-seven americans perished

or the six thousand americans wounded at the hands of

malignancy, dogmatism, imbecility, cowardice

would not be allowed to be erased from our memory

those who risked their lives or had their souls stolen were to be

exalted onto a pedestal, in the rhythm of a never ending applause

after september eleventh, we selected our enemy.

the dangerous career of demonization made us rich

with misinformation, with prejudices, with ignorance

we formed a phalanx and placed the red target on the foreheads of

muslims, which turned into an umbrella term for men

nefarious with dirty brown skin, long beards, cloaked bodies, and

women hidden by cloth, either docile or devious harley quinns

muslims, which turned into sikhs, which turned into hindus,

which turned into arab, which turned into desi — brown became bad

after september eleventh, we became terrorists.

for the two thousand nine hundred seventy-seven killed

we murdered two million citizens of the middle east

in a war for an event they were forced to apologize for

in a war for an event they had nothing to do with

we instilled anxiety, terror, in the hearts of muslim-americans

we removed hijabs, shaved the beards, changed the names,

and stripped them of their identities to selfishly ease our angsts

islamophobia became revolutionary, bigotry equivalent to vigilantism

after september eleventh, we didn’t progress.

fifteen years of interventionism, assassinations, torture,

black sites, airport security, predator drones,

government surveillance, ptsd, classified paper factories,

candlelight vigils, never forgetting, ceremonious speeches,

“go back to your country,” hate crimes, chimerical animosity,

bastardizing one billion six hundred thousand people and their tenets,

and fourteen years of gitmo

only to destabilize a region, create a new threat, and kill bin laden

after september eleventh, we became daesh.

we became our enemy by allowing our morality to deplete

we deemed our way of life as non-negotiably incompatible to variant

credos, forming a metaphysic based on propaganda

advanced torture and militancy might’ve been an adrenaline rush

and if you say it enough times, you might just think you’re justified

because blinding anger maltreatment turned our hearts black

as that of an aryan

terror plots and track records are nothing compared to american scorn