Dave Timmons lives in central Florida. He was our speaker for HRTampa after 9/11 and read his poem to us. There’s nothing like hearing an author read their written words. I still hear his words in my head. This poem can be found in, ”Chicken Soup for the Soul of America book.”
As smoke and heat diminish from the mangled steel
and glass,
The hope of rescue workers faded in and out so fast.
Those heroes of our nation working tirelessly to find
a sound, a breath, some proof of life, to keep that hope
alive.
The victims were so innocent, just doing their life’s work,
In a nation called America, those most free on this earth.
Suddenly, a worker finds a cell phone flashing red.
He plays the “last call” message and this is what it said:
“Hello, it’s me, I’m calling to tell you I’m alright.
I’ve made it up to heaven; I tried to call last night.
The group that I arrived with is strong and brave and tall
And proud to be American’s while answering God’s call.
“I love you all and know I’ve been in all your thoughts and
Prayers
You need to know I felt no pain and made it safely here.
Now let me say a prayer for you of closure and of life,
Move on with courage and with faith that we will reunite.
“I know it’s sad; I’ll age no more, but in this you can trust:
My dreams were put back in the Earth in particles of dust:
That dust is in the air you breathe; I’ve past it on to you.
So please breathe deeply every day and make my dreams
come true”
Dave Timmons is a Leadership Artist who helps people become Leaders through the Art of Six String Leadership. For more information including Dave’s videos, please visit www.davetimmons.com/ or call (813) 948-6709.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Dave, I felt I needed to share with you that I was at Ground Zero one month after the terrorist attack. I found your poem “Last Call” taped to a memorial board and on it was taped a photo of a missing woman from the 93rd Floor of World Trade Center I. Her name was Deanne Signer. Your writing touched my heart and I took a photo and it has been a part of my NYC tribute scrapbook since it’s creation in November of 2001. Of all the tributes, this one stood out to me. I still don’t know why, but as I look at it today, my heart is heavy. The hope and dreams that your poem gives rebirth to I’m sure has touched many. I have a dream and a mission and maybe reading this today was to inspire me to breathe deeply and keep that dream alive. Thank you! (From Iowa)
Hello Kris from Iowa,
First of all, I’m rooting for you to breathe deeply and keep your dreams alive.
Secondly, I can’t thank you enough for this blog post. I’ve heard from another family whose relative had also spotted the poem on a board at Ground Zero. His loved one was Mary Yolanda Dowling, who perished on the 92nd floor (Aon). Her Irish father contacted me weeks later and said the poem was read at her wake and that it gave the family some peace.
I wrote the poem at 3am on 9/19/01 after hours of sobbing and grieving and mourning. Funny thing is I’m not sure I REALLY wrote it. I was struggling to come to grips with my emotions and couldn’t sleep. Went into my home office to journal my thoughts. I scribbled words and notes and frustration on my paper as my tears would fall and the ink would run.
All of a sudden, I started shaking uncontrollably. I thought I saw my wife (or something) walk by the French doors to my office. As I looked up, I didn’t see anything but an incredible peace came over me like I’ve never felt before. Twenty minutes later, I looked at my paper to see what I had written and it was ‘Last Call’. At 5:30am, I sent it to 120 of my family and friends in an email. Soon after, it was taped on the various memorial boards at Ground Zero.
I really believe these words were meant to be released to the world to offer some measure of peace to our healing process. I was just the instrument.
Finally, if you want to be blown away by hearing this poem sung to music, please go to the bottom right hand corner of the home page of my site: http://www.davetimmons.com.
Blessing to you Kris!
Dave Timmons
9/14/09 4:52pm
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