An Ode to JFK

 

A poem by community member Preston McWhorter:

With the assassin’s bullet the dreams of a generation were slain
It seemed with his passing a glorious light was extinguished
That a dark malaise had settled over the land with depression in its train
That where there had been energy and enthusiasm only gloom remained.

He was a young man in life’s prime—at the height of his abilities
He suffered from a back ache earned in the service to our country
He was a shining knight ready to do battle with the iniquities
Of ignorance and oppression that threatened to over whelm our polity

His most idealistic endeavor sought to bring the idealism
And energy of youth to our nation’s foreign affairs
Formation of the Peace Corps sought to infuse realism
Enthusiasm, life into moribund bureaucratic lairs

He guided us in an era when a thermonuclear sword
Of Damocles hovered just above our municipals
Met the Soviet threat with verve, common sense, not bored
Not afraid to negotiate but unwilling to give on basic principles

He lived life with style and joyful energy
And taught us that we could look beyond the grays
Of everyday existence and aspire to life’s color synergy
His domain defined named a modern Camelot’s ways