In Times Of Trouble Poem by Laurence Overmire

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)