Two thousand one, nine eleven
     Three 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 '45
     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
     Three thousand plus heroes, Newcomers to heaven
     On this day, two thousand one, nine eleven

     Author UNKNOWN