Public Speaking: Self Evident

Can you remember where you were when the World Trade Center fell in 2001? What did the event change for you?

Ani DiFranco expressed her consternation, her fear and her anger in the poem 'Self Evident', one of the most powerful descriptions of the event I know.

and the shock was subsonic
and the smoke was deafening
between the setup and the punch line
cuz we were all on time for work that day
we all boarded that plane for to fly
and then while the fires were raging
we all climbed up on the windowsill
and then we all held hands
and jumped into the sky

I used this poem as material for my fifth Toastmasters speech "Your body speaks". To read it in its entirety, and listen to Ani DiFranco's excellent performance see righteous babe records.

Image by Noam Galai via flickr, used under a Creative Commons license.