POEM - What Firefighters Face
WHAT FIREFIGHTERS FACE
I know what people write and say
About the way we earn our pay.
But by my God I know our place
And what it is that firefighters face.
The summer heat like a fiery oven...
The iced up coat we couldn't open...
The lady pinned behind the wheel...
The worker pierced by a shaft of steel. ..
The window ledge we just couldn't reach...
The bolted door that wouldn't breach...
The chilling scream, "My kid's in there"...
The smoke dense room we had to dare...
The "mouth-to-mouth" that proved too slow...
The boiling tank that just lets go...
The spongy floor that starts to fall...
The brother buried beneath a wall...
So let them say whatever they please,
I'll make no effort to appease...
And in my heart lies no disgrace
For I know what firefighters face.
William C. Richmond 1977/1984
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