To know me is to know that I love words.
To know me is to know that I love good writing. Writing that mourns with those who mourn or shouts hallelujahs to the glorious-ness of life.
And to know me is to know that I am patriotic — well before it was the fad du jour.
And so you will not be surprised that I liked the following quote from a Danish journalist Poul Höi, who lives in the US and covers American affairs for the Danish paper Berlingske Tidend. Höi was an eye-witness to the 9-11-attack. This quote appeared in the paper the day after the attacks. The quote goes as follows:
“There are days when words are too small. When your eyes are bigger than your mouth. When the sound of planes over your head, the sight of clouds rising into the sky as a dark cone, and the smell — the smell of fire, of the moment when a fire is the most omnivorous — seems almost too overwhelming to pass on. But words are our tool, and words now must do the job.”
This is the translation of the quote. I wonder if it is as beautifully written in Danish as it is in English . . .
A moment of silence, please, as we think of the upcoming eighth anniversary of 9/11.