Poet Tony Brown creates an original poem for Stonewalk.

GIFT: for the Stonewalkers, 8/3/04 By Tony Brown

Tony Brown, long-time Worcester, MA poet and slammer, joined Peaceful Tomorrows in Uxbridge on August 3 to read an original poem he created for "Stonewalk." Brown knew seven people who were killed on Flight 11 on September 11, 2001.

We have always
wanted our gifts to come to us
tied off neatly

with tidy bows.
This isn't one of those. Unraveled
ends trail off this one like ripcords,

just waiting for one strong tug
to open up and set it free.
It may wait for years, and

even when pulled long and hard,
it may never unwrap completely
in one lifetime. Still every gift needs

to be opened. Everyone
needs to see what it may be inside -
despite the fear that it may

rise, or burst, or be so
unlike what was expected that
everything around it will have to change.

This is the hope contained in anything before it is
unwrapped:
that everything will change
once someone reaches out, takes hope in hand,
and pulls.