Ten Seconds

Ten seconds is a very long time When that’s all you have to live There’s time enough to make your peace But not time enough to give… …to give your sweetheart one more hug To squeeze her oh so tight To give your kids the assurance that Everything will be all right From the moment I began this job I’ve prepared myself for this day So now as He suddenly calls me home It seems I already know the way Kaboom, kaboom, kaboom, kaboom Like a freight train bearing down I instantly knew how this would end That’s when I felt His peace surround… …surround my body, surround my soul Surround my brothers in arms I felt His love, like a giant cloak Come to shelter us from harm While answering the call that day I saw the second plane It glided through the cloudless sky Then burst into fire-like rain It rained down fire, it rained down dust It rained down bodies, too It seemed that no matter how we tried There was nothing we could do We knew that people trapped above The holes that ripped the towers Could never escape their awful fate Without the aid of His heavenly powers I prayed that day, a silent prayer As I stepped inside the lobby I knew but for the grace of God We’d be destined to recovering bodies Still we began climbing the narrow stairs While others were heading out As we passed these scared civilians Some began to shout… “God bless you, our brave firemen You’re heroes to us all” But we were merely doing our jobs Just answering the call We knew when we began this fight That we all would not survive But by risking our lives for those of others We keep the hope alive The hope that good will conquer all That God will help us through Reward us all with eternal life As our souls begin anew I saw the face of God that day As He led me from this place His will, not ours, will be done I have to accept this fact with grace I understood, at once, that day What firefighters were sent here for Watch over the masses as best we can Of no man could you ask more Ten seconds is a very long time… Twenty years but a drop in the bucket…