The Towers Fell, They Stood Once More

The day the towers fell, they stood once more,
From quiet years their solemn summons rose.
They ran to serve, as they had done before.

Through ashen streets where distant sirens tore,
They raised frail hope from grief the nation knows.
The day the towers fell, they stood once more.

Some climbed through smoke no trembling heart could ignore,
Their measured breath against the furnace throes.
They ran to serve, as they had done before.

And others felt old vows within them soar,
A steady strength the waking spirit chose.
The day the towers fell, they stood once more.

From wind-scoured coasts to heights of driven snow,
They bore the weight no mortal praise can store.
They ran to serve, as they had done before.

Though years may turn and restless histories flow,
Their rising courage still through memory goes.
The day the towers fell, they stood once more.
They ran to serve, as they had done before.

​

The Reach of the Eagle's Watch

Where they go beyond my ground, my watch goes with them.
I circle one wide nation as my span,
On rising heat I command the upper air;
My shadow sweeps across the shaping land,
I fix my sight with a hard, unbroken stare.

This ground I claim through seasons, ridge, and plain,
From river bends to cities lit at night;
I read each path where labor, loss, and strain
Have marked the earth beneath my steady flight.

When they move out beyond my guarded shore,
Past coasts where foreign winds and iron prevail,
I hold their trace and follow evermore
Through distant dust, through storm and driven hail.

No border breaks the reach from where I stand —
I keep my watch over those who serve this land.