Commemorating 9/11

As part of the University’s observance of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the Mahindra Humanities Center erected eight “poetry posts” on the lawns between Massachusetts Hall and the Barker Center: slim green cylinders, about seven feet tall,  each bearing the names of the 10 Harvard affiliates who died in the attacks, and a poem (or excerpt) meant to prompt reflection about loss and recovery. Among the texts were Martín Espada’s “Alabanza: In Praise of Local 100,” on the 43 members of Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 100 who perished in Windows on the World; Emily Dickinson’s “We Grow Accustomed to the Dark”; an excerpt from Lucille Clifton’s “september song: a poem in 7 days” ; Frank Bidart’s “Curse”; and an excerpt from W. H. Auden’s “September 1, 1939.”

The list atop each pale olive pillar paid homage to the dead: David Al­ger ’66; Paul Ambrose, M.P.H. ’00; Anthony Demas, P.M.D. ’80; Steven Lawrence Glick, M.B.A.’89; Edward R. Hennessy ’88; Waleed Joseph Iskandar, M.B.A. ’93; Andrew Keith Kates, M.B.A. ’91; Michael B. Packer ’76; Meta Waller, M.P.A. ’82; and Steven Weinstein, S.M. ’73.