A Jfk Remembrance On The 50th Anniversary Of His Death Poem by Bill Grace

At fifty years
His shadow passes
And those who knew his charm
If only through television or alarm
As we too go into that good night.

He loved the girls it's true
But I found of greater interest
His tent mate from the Solomons -
Commander Robinson
Who told of horrendous weight lost
When he was recovered unconscious
in the water
It was his life vest
that saved him
McArthur said he should have
been court martialed
The Navy gave a decoration.

He was light and shadow,
To use Barb Marquis' phrase -
Kept the military on their leash
when so much seemed lost
when we came so close.

I wonder if what Aunt Ruth told me is true
when she was at Columbia after Elmira
but before Syracuse before Cornell,
that Professor Neustadt told her
he was to be given carte blanche
to discover the why
of the Bay of Pigs screw up
their meeting set for 29 November
to discuss the guidelines for engagement.

I know Dad wept but twice
In all the years I knew him
When his real son died
When Jackie received the flag
I guess
I'll salute them both
Right here.