A BUDDING Ipswich writer has received a heartfelt thank you from the mayor of New York after penning a moving poem.

Rebecca Lefort

A BUDDING Ipswich writer has received a heartfelt thank you from the mayor of New York after penning a moving poem.

Twelve-year-old Victoria Brown wrote a piece focusing on the emotional impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the city's Twin Towers in 2001.

Her family were so impressed with her efforts that they persuaded her to post it to New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who personally wrote back praising Victoria's efforts.

The St Alban's High School pupil, of Roundwood Road, said: “I always thought what happened was very sad and I wanted to know more about it and I thought that writing a poem would be a good way to do that.

“It made me think about it and imagine what it would have been like to have lost someone.

“I was pleased with the poem, but I wasn't expecting a letter back from the mayor.

“It felt really good and I was proud that it was actually from him.”

The letter from mayor Bloomberg said: “Thank you so much for your wonderful and very impressive poem.”

Victoria's mum Fiona said she was so moved by the poem that it reduced her to tears.

“I think it is lovely for people in New York City to know a girl in another country felt strongly enough to write such a moving poem,” she added. “This poem wasn't homework, it was just something she wanted to do.”

Have you written an important poem? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk.

The poem

The Twin Towers

I love the way,

You sing your songs,

I love the way you hum along,

I love the way you hold my hand,

I love the way you smell my hair,

I love the way you care.

And then it happened,

1,2,3.

2 planes crashed, a heart stopped, a heart broke.

Even though you're up there,

It did not change the way you:

You sang,

The way you hum,

The way you hold,

The way you care.

We are the Twin Towers,

Even though you're gone,

I am the one that fell

I may be moving,

I may be breathing,

I may be writing.

But I am not living.

We are the twin towers.

We'll never be together again.