Westmont Magazine FDNY

By Paul Willis, Professor of English and Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara for the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

And did they climb those stairs?
They did. Oh yes, they did.
Oh yes, they did.

And did they find their duty there?
They did. Oh yes, they did.

And when those towers fell, what then?
What did become of them?
What then?

They kept on climbing. Yes, they did.
With all their heart, with all their will,
They kept on climbing still.

And are they climbing even now?
And are they climbing now?

Oh yes, they are. They’re climbing there.
On stairs and towers everywhere,
In boots and hats and heavy fare
They keep on climbing through that air
To do their duty there.

And do they still, with right good will?
Oh yes, they do, for me, for you.
They keep on climbing for they care
To do their dusty duty there.

And shall we bless them full and fair?
We shall, oh yes, we shall, we shall,
We shall bless them everywhere.

We do bless them full and fair,
Because oh yes, because oh yes,
Because they still do climb those stairs.