The Wall of Remembrance brings me to tears, 
Thousands gone in minutes,
Oh America!
This is my home,
Land of the free,
Home of the brave,
How often we take things for granted,
And still we say it's not enough,
Some of us push for more,
More equality, more justice,
Until we are hit,
And then we always pull together, 
It's a beautiful thing to see,
Then you realize, 
it's not the land, it's the people,
The people make America great.
Our melting pot of different Races, 
different beliefs, different abilities,
For we are a brave people,
And we won't let anybody scare us. 
No, the day after the plane crashes, 
I said to myself and my friends,
I refuse to be scared,
I refuse to be intimidated,
For that is just what these extremists want,
Our people, our beautiful melting pot,
Our rainbow race,
Pulls together in times like this,
And it is this that makes America strong,
It is this which makes America rich,
This makes us invincible,
America will rebuild,
Stronger, more resilient than ever,
And people from around the world
Will always seek to come here,
Because of the freedom,
Because of our people.
Our beautiful, strong, courageous,
compassionate, generous people…

When I was nine, I discovered the words of Walt Whitman and I was awed. He 
spoke about the average American man and woman with a reverence for their 
strength and beauty, for their resilience. He wrote dazzling poems about 
America, and about the greatness of the everyday, common people. In fact, he 
thought everyday Americans were heroes and heroines beyond compare. He was a 
native of New York, and I believe Mr. Whitman would be darned proud of his 
fellow Americans in the aftermath of the World Trade Center bombings.  I 
still don't see how we can win if we go to war, for that is just what Bin 
Laden wants. I say we should strengthen our borders, be more secure, and 
increase our intelligence, but if we go to war we will only end up like 
Israel. 

Tamar Raine  9-14-01
Oakland, CA