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 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 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