By Douglas J. Lanzo
Copyright 2021

First published in The Drabble, October 15, 2021

Dedicated to 9-11 fallen firefighter hero, Keith Roma

Found on Christmas Eve, 2001,
alongside nine evacuees
he was striving to save,
the 344^th firefighter,
the sole member of New York’s Fire Patrol
lost on 9-11…
after rescuing over 200 people,
including a barefoot woman
he carried over tower lobby glass
from the inferno raging inside,
whose retired patrol father,
apprehending from his son the situation,
geared up to meet him at Ground Zero,
but never got the chance;

Omitted as a fire patrol member
from some 9-11 annals
that remember the brave firefighters
who gave their lives that day,
but who deserves to be honored
among his fallen brethren: Keith Roma, the 344^th firefighter lost on 9-11.