September 11th by Thepoet (A poem originally published in the SRF 9/14/2001)
As I watched the dark cloud,SEPTEMBER 11th
By- Thepoet, SRF Feature Writer We have all, perhaps,
sat motionless…
Staring and feeling..
the heights of evil horror
while the sights
we see on TV
Drive us to the depths..
of agonizing grief…
as the, mostly,peaceful
planet..had happiness stolen
by a brutal thief.
of smoke….spiral upward..
into the Azure sky………
A small amount of relief,
came over me,
I know not why…..
First Yellow.. then White..
as it left my sight.
A thought entered my mind……
[hopefully not offending]
I mean this to be kind………
and I hope I’m not alone
I feel the cloud became dust
of innocent angels………….
going home.
Thanks for reading
Ron Dawson[aka thepoet]
Note: Back in 2001, the SimRacing Form website (the forerunner of the Black Type Bugler) published a column in its Features section called Racing Verse by Thepoet. For four months, Thepoet (a.k.a. ezmoney) published 13 poems with us, ranging from the first one about the Kentucky Derby through fun topics covering the Belmont, jockeys, handicappers, superstar Buda With The Slew, and even the year’s west coast Sim gathering.
Racing Verse’s final poem was published on Friday, September 14th in Week 1152’s preview issue. Three days after September 11th, 2001, we were all raw with emotion and didn’t feel like posting an issue. To our surprise, many writers submitted previews and we all took our minds off of the week’s events by playing the Sim not only through its motions, but all the way, which included articles about the game’s stakes races (this at a time when the game was smaller with less tracks and graded races — the SimRacing Form covered as many tracks’ listed stakes as we could each week). The writers were called “Beat Reporters” back then.
Of all the track articles, columns, interviews, stories, and features that editor Roys Mansur and I published during those early years, Thepoet’s September 11th poem was undoubtedly the most memorable. It was spontaneous, raw — it went to your gut and stayed there long after it went online. The poem meant something to us as editors — it reminded us of who we were and what we were attempting to do: bringing the trivial game to life, even (and despite) when life trivializes us all.
It was a privilege to publish Thepoet’s poem. It stands out in our long memories of the game and the SRF/BTB publishing history. Roys is still here at the Bugler and Squirrel carries on the tradition of editor. The Sim’s newspaper keeps going and I marvel at its triumph of longevity. Long may it continue to bring the game to life.
— Sharon Shimko (Snowchief), SRF/BTB Editor 1999-2009
If you’d like to read more of Thepoet’s poems, click here and follow the archive links at the bottom (some old SRF links may not work!).