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,
"Let's sit, let's 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 Hyannis port 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 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 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,
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.