The Day the Earth Stood Still poem

It came without a warning,
one beautiful breezy sunny morning.

It seemed a day like any other,
no reason for anyone to bother.

Children went to school and parents to their work,
and right around the corner, no one knew what lurked.

The horror came in quick,
like a window smashed with a brick.

It spread rapidly like a disease,
causing all other activities to cease.

Everything started moving in slow motion,
while people tried to make sense of the commotion.

The wind no longer blew,
and birds no longer flew.

Except for one white bird which I did see fly,
it flew so slow I felt I could take it from the sky.

An eerie silence made its way,
announcing it was here to stay,

While four demons, flying high in the air,
sought to destroy the living and make the ground bare.

A darkness fell upon the land,
snatching helpless souls with its hand.

Above the earth it came to hover,
laying down a death blanket for all to cover.

That white bird flies repeatedly in my mind; I can still see it,
but it's the pure eeriness of it all that makes me fear it.

Multitudes of lives were taken on that day;
why it happened, only God can truly say.

Now there is no need for any kind of explanation.
No matter how this story is told, there can be no exaggeration.

The time has come for Americans to rise up and take a stand,
stare evil in the eye and say you will not destroy my heart, my soul, my land.

The answer cannot be hate,
for that will only seal our fate.

The answer is trying to discover,
how we can help heal each other.

That's the day the earth stood still—
now what will you do with what you feel?

— Cesar Ruvalcaba

Cesar Ruvalcaba at Veterans Day, Chicago, 2004