22 pages • 44-minute read
September Suite
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Symbols & Motifs
American Empire
Flags, songs, and divine blessings are all tools for the Americans in Clifton’s poems to coalesce around in the face of terrorism. These symbols of modern nation states are common enough in civilian life, although they have a militaristic quality. What exactly the citizens in Clifton’s poems are rallying for is never explicitly stated. American media from the aftermath shows a large number of Americans ready and eager to go to war and spill blood abroad, as Clifton describes in Lines 12-13 of “Wednesday 9/12/01.”
Whether the United States might be accurately described as an empire is debated. Those calling for war in 2001 were aware of how, if America were to act without the support of other world powers, the country would be charged with “hegemony or imperialism” (Sabath, Kenneth M. “In a Wounded Land, the Drums of September.” New York Times, 2001). The word “exempt” (Line 10) in “Tuesday 9/11/01” references American exceptionalism, the concept that “the United States is fundamentally different from other developed countries and has a special role in the world” (Scott, Janny. “9/11 Leaves Its Mark on History Classes.” New York Times, 2006). As Clifton says, such violence is known in other places but not here. “September Suite” predicts many of these debates by depicting opposing sentiments.
Religion and Persecution
Religion and violence go hand in hand in “September Suite.” The speaker assumes some knowledge on the reader’s part about al-Qaeda’s jihadist motives. The “brick / into the mosque” (“Wednesday 9/12/01,” Lines 5-6) is a religiously motivated violence in response to this religiously motivated violence. They curse “Gods’ other name” (“Wednesday 9/12/01,” Line 10) because they blame Islam and all of its practitioners for the attacks. The phrasing of “other name” suggests that across religions, god or gods are more or less the same; it’s the names that differentiate between them. More comparisons are invoked: the violence of slavery and the mass violence of the attacks in “Friday 9/14/01”; the persecution of an ancient Jewish man in “Saturday 9/15/01”; and the martyrdom of firemen in “Thursday 9/13/01.”
The speaker pays special attention to what happens to the firemen after they experience violence. Reaching “heaven / or […] the river jordan” (“Thursday 9/13/01,” Lines 9-10) suggests that their actions have brought them to a better, cleaner place, through death or baptism. Unlike those who throw bricks at mosques and admonish others for remembering, the firemen’s reaction to the violence actually helps bring about a better world by the end of the poem. Those in “September Suite” who seek an end to persecution are the true heroes of the poem.
Time: Past, Present, and Future
Time plays a crucial part in “September Suite,” as is evidenced by the dates in the titles. Clifton must not bring up certain truths at certain times. She is discouraged from revisiting certain aspects of the past when she is encouraged to remember the rosy legacy of her country. Line 7 in “Friday 9/14/01” (“is it treason to remember”) eerily predicts the memorial phrase “Remember 9/11” seen on bumper stickers, posters, and all sort of memorabilia meant to commemorate those who died in the attacks. For Clifton, remembering is a key part of the way out of tragedy. Remembering old persecutions places these recent tragedies in context. Stories don’t always offer explanations, as is seen in “Saturday 9/15/01” (“who can know what is intended? who can understand / the gods?” Lines 6-7), but they do bring the speaker comfort and peace.
Despite the tragic present of these poems, the future they gesture toward is bright. The fact of the oneness, of continued existence, is sweet and promising as “apples and honey” (“Monday Sundown 9/17/01,” Lines 5-6). In contrast to the certainty and finality of death, “what is not lost” is yet to be determined (“Monday Sundown 9/17/01,” Line 7). In its lack of definition, it is pure hope and potential.
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