TWO THOUSAND ONE, NINE ELEVEN
Author Unknown

Two thousand one, nine eleven
Five thousand plus arrive in heaven.
As they pass through the gate,
Thousands more appear in wait.
A bearded man with stovepipe hat
Steps forward saying, "Lets sit, lets chat."
 
They settle down in seats of clouds,
A man named Martin shouts out proud,
"I have a dream!" and once he did
The Newcomer said, "Your dream still lives."
 
Groups of soldiers in blue and gray
Others in khaki, and green then say
"We're from Bull Run, Yorktown, the Maine"
The Newcomer said, "You died not in vain."
 
From a man on sticks one could hear
"The only thing we have to fear.
The Newcomer said, "We know the rest,
trust us sir, we've passed that test."
 
"Courage doesn't hide in caves
You can't bury freedom, in a grave,"
The Newcomers had heard this voice before
A distinct Yankees twang from Hyannisport shores.
 
A silence fell within the mist
Somehow the Newcomer knew that this
Meant time had come for her to say
What was in the hearts of the five thousand plus that day.
 
"Back on Earth, we wrote reports,
Watched our children play in sports
Worked our gardens, sang our songs
Went to church and clipped coupons
We smiled, we laughed, we cried, we fought
Unlike you, great we're not"
 
The tall man in the stovepipe hat
Stood and said, "Don't talk like that!
Look at your country, look and see
You died for freedom, just like me"
 
Then, before them all appeared a scene
Of rubbled streets and twisted beams
Death, destruction, smoke and dust
And people working just 'cause they must
 
Hauling ash, lifting stones,
Knee deep in hell, but not alone
"Look! Blackman, Whiteman, Brownman, Yellowman
Side by side helping their fellow man!"
So said Martin, as he watched the scene
"Even from nightmares, can be born a dream."
 
Down below three firemen raised
The colors high into ashen haze
The soldiers above had seen it before
On Iwo Jima back in '44
 
The man on sticks studied everything closely
Then shared his perceptions on what he saw mostly
"I see pain, I see 20 tears,
I see sorrow - but I don't see fear."
 
"You left behind husbands and wives
Daughters and sons and so many lives
are suffering now because of this wrong
But look very closely. You're not really gone.
 
All of those people, even those who've never met you
All of their lives, they'll never forget you
Don't you see what has happened?
Don't you see what you've done?
You've brought them together as one.”
 
With that the man in the stovepipe hat said
"Take my hand," and from there he led
five thousand plus heroes, Newcomers to heaven
On this day, two thousand one, nine eleven.

By Aimee (12 y/o)

 

We watched as people suffered and died,
as orphans and widows prayed and cried,
as the planes hit the towers the world held its breath,
as everyone saw the destruction and death,
the workers stopped working the teachers stopped teaching,
all the alarms sounded and the preachers kept preaching,
we could all feel the pain of the people stuck up there burning,
and when another person jumped our stomachs started churning,
everyone was on their knee's praying for the souls,
that were going up to heaven and had lost their dreams and goals,
we were losing all hope as the number of death's got higher,
and our anger kept growing in our hearts like fire,
the day September 11th would now be a very important date,
the day everyone everywhere would question their fate,
this would be the day that our courage shows bright,
for everyone around was helping with all their might,
all those people dead with not even a grave,
but the helpers still worked with the hope that another they might save,
after all the destruction was done all we could do is give,
so we waited in lines miles long to give blood so someone might live,
now where the twin towers had once stood is a pile of ash,
and everyone alive will always remember the day of this terrible crash,
that took the lives of so many that didn't want to die,
this day when smoke and ash filled the New York sky,
this is our country, the land of the brave and free,
this is a country that everyone should see,
with our colors red, white and blue,
and forever and ever we will shine through.
This is our country and it is AMERICA!