At 9:00 AM in room 313 at Northwest High School

‍

I did not defy Shirley's command to interrupt our cheerful, creative class with live, television news;

I did not believe collapsing buildings and airborne divers in clouded, New York City chaos;

I did not prevent your weeping;

I did not allay your fears;

Watching a wounded Pentagon, I did not foresee whether the US Department of Energy Complex near us would be the next target or not;

Most of all, with broken heart, I DID NOT promise to keep you safe.

‍