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1968 (poem)
By Larry Kerschner
[Printer-Friendly Version] I lost 1968
somewhere in the hot and moist jungles
of the central highlands of Vietnam
when I wasn't paying attention
J. Edgar came out of his closet
long enough to murder and jail
young black leaders
who caused his scrotum to shrivel
afraid that someone might know that he was
passing as white himself
his FBI assassinated Martin Luther King, Jr.
so that a black messiah would not lead to the mountain top
the CIA killed Robert Kennedy on television
LBJ allowed Nixon to commit treason
for the good of the people
Armstrong spent several hours walking on the moon
a first step toward going
where no man had gone before
I heard that the Civil Rights Act was signed
ending the civil war and jim crow slavery
people of color would have control of their lives
able to be free and equal citizens of these united states
when I returned to the world in 1969
it was a whole different thing
—Larry Kerschner
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