Yankee Pear
- Jubilee Lipsey
- Sep 12
- 1 min read
(for 9/11)

Back in 2012, I was finishing an independent study in poetry in college, and I wrote this after being inspired by the story of the pear tree that was nearly destroyed by the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York on 9/11. The tree was restored and placed in a nearby park to regain its full strength. I was so moved by the greater symbolism of the story--new life from ashes, strength from destruction. It's the sort of thing that has always triggered the need to write. So, I wrote:
Yankee Pear
(for 9/11)
The strange fire choked volcanism,
spat people.
I saw it and thought my guard duty had ended.
Hostile shadows turned the buildings against me,
cleaving layers of years
to bleed in sap.
I split down,
third tower to match.
Splintered sides became
burial ground for shrapnel.
When oxygen returned, I breathed in grey
and stood by for other missing
living. My roots heard distress
and I dug deep, willing water to them –
hoping seeds would crawl out of the rubble
and flourish.
I strained dry bones
to the sky, bare arms up,
and I awoke in heaven--
a park of green to clothe my wounds,
and raise a patriot again.
--Jubilee Meehan, circa 2012
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