Studio8 - Uniting the Arts

JFK was shot to the moon
had kissed my ass goodby
in school A bomb drills
began to think about thrills
I got bongos from TJ
and a switchblade
and lots of cherry bombs
hadn't popped a cherry yet
smoked my first cigarette
liked strange stereo
midnight transistor radio
surf music washed away sin
combed my hair in fins
rejected religion then
turned to science fiction
didn't wonder where the yellow went
started to hear jazz in comic noise
in my hodad head saw cool things
forgot about hula hoops and slinkies
started looking up young girls dress
I had no intention to ever confess
was a rebel in grade school
lost interest in Disneyland
never saw a real zip gun
hung out at bowling alleys
smoked and cussed
spit on sidewalks a lot
felt lonely and lost
didn't like to be bossed
said bitchin and groovy
for the hell of it
played a lot of pinball
popped zits and looked a tits
tried to look like a bad boy
had an attitude in blue jeans
had seen beatniks on TV
later went to movies on Friday night
to stand around and eyeball chicks
liked to draw pictures of hot rods
in class rather then listen to the teach
took long lonesome walks with rock
and roll ideas rockin and rollin
through my addled adolescent mind
wondern what the fuck it was all about
didn't think about being a soldier
couldn't wait to get older
it was a time when folk songs
began to make me sense what it was
that i didn't know what it is
hadn't heard of Kerouac yet
bottle of wine fruit of the vine
walk right in sit right down
daddy let your mind roll on
on the eve of destruction
something in the air made me begin
to care, but I wasn't there yet...man
just want get drunk and think about junk
hadn't smoked my first zig zag joint yet
didn't know if in the future I would have regrets

cool impressionistic portrait of a 60s kid

Can't be too cool.

hey Judih

hey Craig
always good to read you

Great tongue- in- cheek poem about the moon shot, July 20, 1969! Thanks for this one,
revolution rabbit!

I remember the day of the moon landing
I was working in the back room of a newspaper
there was a TV mounted above
so we could watch it while we worked
my work buddy and I went outside and smoked a joint
so we could watch the the great step for mankind, high.

the first line of the poem refers to Kennedy assassination
and also that he started the space program that put a man
on the moon, I also recently heard a talk on internet radio
from a guy that wrote a book about how Kennedy was on
meth, because of a doctor called Dr. Feelgood, also I
already knew he had taken LSD.Apparently Dr. Feelgood
got a lot of famous people on meth.

I was 13 when Kennedy was shot.

Revolution Rabbit, It appears we have something in common. I was just a year older, 14,
when Kennedy was shot. We lived in San Antonio at the time, which is where JFK visited
the day before he was shot: Nov. 21, 1963. I was in English class at the time...
Everyone I knew was very upset...I had to be excused to go to the restroom to "throw up".
My English teacher had tears in her eyes.

I also worked at a newspaper office during the "moon shot" in July 20, 1969. I have some
interesting souvenir posters of the first landing astronauts, Apollo 11. Your poetry resonates quite well & I quite enjoy your lines. The world changed on both those days. Kennedy was a "long distance viewer". He'd be pleased that we got to the moon in the time he specified.

Folks made things happen then, during the second American revolution. Soon it'll be time
for the anniversary of the "March on Washington" & the "I have a Dream" speech by MLK.
Let's not forget the folks who put us here... Those who encouraged us to think, to write,
& to take action for good causes. Along the way, there were victims, heroes, & villains.
The everyday Jack & Jills who sacrificed their livelihoods are the folks we are most indebted
to.
Perhaps, at a later date, I could wax poetic on these events again.

Yes, I remember I was in an English class also
the teacher told us what had happened
there was a lot of heavy sadness in the air
we were just in junior high school so we
were still kind of bewildered by the event
I always think of that day November 22 1963
as the end of my childhood and around the time
I wanted to become a Beatnik, I think there was
a feeling underlying that day that something had
changed deeply in the American psyche, a shift
but the Beatles were now filling the void
the late sixties were just around the corner.