As most of you are probably aware by now, a few years back I wrote what has since become the most widely used 9/11 poem in the world...it went rather viral since I first posted it on the internet back on September 30, 2011...if not, this list of highlights from the tenth anniversary of that tragic event, and the first 9/11 my poem was out, should give you a clue...
My 9-11 Tribute poem has been "in print" at least fourteen times in 2011...
http://www.storiesspace.com/forum/yaf_postst538_Fpa4F8d7H3b5IcFk
Anyway, although it gets read every year at ceremonies around the world, this is the first actual footage of anyone reading it that I have come across...someone tipped me off that this ceremony, which took place in Los Angeles County in California, was broadcast on Time Warner Cable...
Here's the link to a newspaper article about the event...notice the active link to my poem over on the poetry site Hello Poetry btw...
Local tribute marks 9/11 anniversary
http://theavtimes.com/2013/09/11/local-tribute-marks-911-anniversary/
The ceremony takes place at the Fallen Heroes Memorial, which is actually right outside the mall...apparently the mall helped fund it, and there's controversy about that which I won't get into...anyway, if you want to know more about the memorial, this article will help with that btw...
Antelope Valley Fallen Heroes Memorial
http://www.patriciakshaw.com/Fallen_Heroes_Memorial.html
My poem was read by Captain Pat Nelson of the Lancaster Valley Sheriff's Station...his picture and bio are on the upper right here...
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department - Lancaster Valley Sheriff's Station
http://shq.lasdnews.net/pages/patrolstation.aspx?id=lan
Anyway...here is the video...my poem starts right around 27:00 min...he starts by saying "I've been asked to read a poem by Alan Jankowski"...apparently he must have lost a bet...
The thing I find interesting about this reading, and yes...this is the first actual reading that I've seen footage of...is that he changes one of the lines in the poem...the fifth stanza of the poem goes like this...
Men who bravely gave their lives,
Whose orphaned kids and widowed wives,
Can proudly look back on their dad,
Who gave this country all they had.
He actually read the third line of that stanza as "Can proudly look back on their moms and dads."...
It's interesting to me, because I actually had thought about that..I'm rather confronted by this poem on a fairly regular basis, as I will continue to be for the rest of my life, no doubt...
Many years ago, I read an interview with Bob Dylan, and one of the things he said that stuck with me was "Don't ever create anything, because it will follow you around for the rest of your life."...
I had no idea what he meant at the time, but now I certainly do...some day in the future, some student will write a term paper discussing how out of touch Alan Jankowski was for a 21st Century author...and the teacher will no doubt give them an "A"...just sayin'
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