Helen,

Your poem of poignant wording summarizes the transfiguration of the american soul brought about by the unspeakable events of September eleven two thousand one.

I just read the poem yesterday. Today I plan to send it to two friends in New York, one who was working one block away when the first plane hit, the other had just moved to the city three months ago.

Here in Birmingham your poem will be read by my family and my friends. Yesterday I gave a copy to my granddaughter to read to her class today.

Helen, your poem needs wide currency. It explains a feeling that could not be put into words by the rest of us. Change the title to, simply, "Ashes" and get it published now. The future needs to know the depth of what we felt.

Milo