They Came Running

They came running Without pause Without thought Without hesitation Not away But towards the dangers That lay ahead They came running Not because It was their job Not because They were brave But because Their brothers Their sisters Their friends And most of all Those they never knew Needed them They came running Because someone disagreed With the way We chose to live and believe And worship, and pray With the way We did something They did not do They came running They came running From down the street Across the city Across the boroughs Across the rivers From miles and miles away And they stayed until Nothing remained And when It was all over And many Who had come running Had died Along with those Who could not be saved The brave sat and cried Not because It was their job Or because They were brave But because Many of their Brothers, sisters, friends And those they never knew People with and without faces Who had called out to them Were lost In the smoke Of what had fallen But I remember I will not forget That when They were called upon When They were needed When The world Seemed to be falling And when others Like me Looked on Not knowing what to do They came running