In Times Of Trouble

I saw my sister Beatled In 1964 Gum-cracking to the toe-tap of Ed Sullivan’s really big shoe Teeny-bopping girl, she needed To believe in something other Than a bullet through a handsome President’s head. A new generation carried Emotions violently unleashed Barricades of cops Unsuspecting mop-tops Giggle-eyed lads who couldn’t Believe their luck Waving from the doors of planes All smiles Tragedy waiting out-of-view behind the wing. In a flash of years The screams still echo Boys and girls alive The music continues In and out of the shadows of The way we live A bittersweet yearning for someone In hard day’s night To hold our hand. (Published in Honor & Remembrance: A Poetic Journey Through American History, by Laurence Overmire (Indelible Mark Publishing,2007)