Artists Registry

Someone once asked, “Why return to the flames, why torture yourself, the history won't change. The die has been cast, the lives are all lost, why torture yourself with such emotional cost. Still, each year, I watch, and find something new. The history hasn't changed, just the lens I view through. 

I gaze at the towers, the smoke swirling high, powerless, broken, beneath wide-open sky, yet in that torment, I find something real, a reminder that feeling is how we can heal.  

I seek out the memories, both bitter and sweet, for the strength of a nation, as strangers would meet, when darkness engulfed us, our hearts intertwined, in the face of the storm, we dared to be kind.  And though kindness seems such a small thing to give out, it seemed kindness was something we'd forgot all about. Yet, in those days where sadness did dwell, kindness is one thing I remember quite well.

I watch for the courage, the bravery shown, in the footsteps of heroes, who faced the unknown, I weep for the souls who rushed off to war, the lives that were lost and those who returned, only not as before.

I watch to feel anger, to feel every tear,  

To honor those lost, to remember the fear,  

As long as I’m aching, I know I still care,  

For the lives that were shattered, and the burdens we bear.  

I watch to remember every name, every city impacted, every life claimed. I watch so I don't take freedom for granted and remember that life may not go as we planned it. 

This day, I surrender to the weight of my heart, let the rawness consume me, and tear me apart, for each year that passes, I promise to hold, the stories of courage, the brave and the bold.  

I watch because memory is a gift we must keep. A vow to the fallen, a promise to weep. To stand in the shadow of loss and despair, beside fellow Americans, hope lives on there.  

So I watch and I listen, I let myself grieve,  

for in that awareness, I learn to believe,  

that as long as I remember I’m never alone in the depths of our sorrow is where humanity’s grown.  

So, I watch and I listen to the day that unfolds unable to explain the deep place that it holds. Every year, I tune in and I cry and I grieve and sometimes my chest hurts from the sobs that I heave. 

And maybe you don't, and that's okay too, but I feel like it's the least I can do. 

Keli Perry - 2024