the last thing before everything turned black,
there was a terrible weight on my back,

a sensation of falling came to me,
i'm not ready to die...God, hear my plea,

i recall being overcome with fright,
then everything turned darker than the night,

i really don't know how much time elapsed,
how much time had gone by since the collapse,

couldn't see my hand in front of my face,
found i was trapped in a tight, narrow space,

it seemed i was trapped under tons of steel,
was this a nightmare...it didn't seem real,

was this just a terrible, awful dream,
but then...someone heard me, answered my screams,

i hoped...maybe just a voice in my head?
it was a man's voice, this is what it said--

"my name's jim...take my hand,
come with me...can you stand?
i'm here to help...follow me...
let me lead you...to safety."

fireman revealed in a flashlight's beam,
"glad to see ya!" (understatement extreme),

got me out, walked me through piles of debris,
all the while, he kept encouraging me,

and soon, we were free--out in the harsh light,
towers gone, ash all around...what a sight,

i turned to thank my hero fireman,
where did he go?? was this part of God's plan?

i looked and looked around, couldn't find him,
i looked everywhere for fireman jim,

searched for him 'til it was too dark to see,
needed to thank the man who rescued me,

no one knew a fireman with that name,
God whispered something to me that explained,

i'm grateful to God, i got out alive,
a fireman angel helped me survive!!
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we all have angels...i saw mine before i
had back surgery in 1983. a little black
nurse. funny thing was, they didn't have
a black surgical nurse at that hospital at
that time!! i think of her as my angel.

with the first anniversary of septemb-
er 11 coming up, i thought i'd tell a
tale and throw in an unexpected an-
gellic slant...hope this encourages
and blesses all who read this. with
much love and many (((HUGS))),
karla. :)