11/22/63 and me

11/22/63 and me

 

 

 

I was featured in a Kennedy poem

the day before Dallas

and the weeping

and the umbrella man

shielding from the tears

 

and the country retraced that motorcade route

countless times

and that window remained open

and that grassy knoll

stayed by the fence

 

and there was the First Lady's pink outfit

at the dry cleaners

but they could not get the stain of her grief

out of the material

 

which over the years became a symbol

for consipiracy

and missals for swearing

in hot sticky corners with coffin background

 

the day the earth stood still around

black and white tv's

with stunned viewers

increasing the Nielson ratings

 

as a country saw Texas

drive a ten gallon hat

into the White House

and a Kennedy poem

concluded 

a November day

as the clock struck one

 

and I was featured

as the teenager

trying to understand

a world gone mad

 

the day I became poetry

as one of those tears

hit me in the eye.

 

 

erin-cilberto

11/22/63

Reviews

[Alisa Js]

This one is a poignant reminder that nothing is guaranteed ever and yet, sometimes we live as if we are invincible. We, as a collective. Can you imagine how it must be for those in power? Especially for those who may have shades of corruption running in their veins...there is so much we don't and will most likely never know as the public is fed a particular narrative to dull the senses...

One only wonders what really goes on behind those powerful closed doors.

Thank you for sharing this powerfully writen piece.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, the Warren Commission...a particular narrative...albeit maybe not the correctone.
Thank you, Alisa,
j.

[andrew mitchell]

Assassinations seem a common occurrence in America. Kennedy although terrible didn’t leave me feeling loss compared to John Lennox’s death and the disbelief. 9/11 was so surreal I didn’t know what to make of it at the time, the biggest shock of all. But John Lennon was like a hero to me I often wonder what music of his we missed out on. I still believe the Kennedy’s had some foul involvement with Monroe’s death. Nice one J.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, andrew...and yes the Marilyn thing, still questionable...but almost certain.
j.

[Relic]

The world will always have its upheavals in one way or another. I'm sure america stood still on that day. And people relied on TV and radio, so there was no instant reporting online like today. Great poem.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Tim...yes, no cell phones, no texts....just tv and radio.
j.

[John Sullivan]

For my generation, it was 9-11. In a moment nothing could ever be the same again. I was in high school at the time, and I remember watching the second plane hit on live television. "a world gone mad," indeed

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I, too, was watching WGN news that morning and saw the second plane when it hit ....I was so stunned and sad I could not believe what I actually saw...j.

[Marvin Thomas Cox-Flynn..]

Jacob,

For you and your readers, who do need to know: The Real News Networks' video, What JFK tried to do before he was assassinated: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wqm9Yl1gGEY

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you, Marve,
j.

[John the Baptist]

An excellent memoir, this one. I was interested in the references to conspiracy theories: the umbrella man, the grassy knoll, etc. One reviewer here seems absolutely convinced that others besides Oswald were involved. While I am always open to new evidence, nothing firm has emerged in all these years to disprove the basic finding of the Warren Commission of 1964: Oswald, acting alone, was responsible for the death of JFK. A lot of people love conspiracy theories. I think it adds the spice of mystery to their otherwise predictable lives. Also, people can deal with evil but not with chaos. Thus they create devils to prove to themselves that their gods are still in control.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I agree with you, John, but I do think there was more to it than just Oswald. If it was that simple...why all the documents locked away?
But we all have different thoughts on that.
Anyway we look at it, that day changed everything.
Thank you for your words.
j.

[Sapphus]

I was 18...how long ago was that? It shocks more now than in '63. Strangely.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

it does for me as well, but then I was only 14...
j.

[emmajoygreen]

I learned about that terrible event at school and remember sister John the Baptist's face as she went from teacher into an elderly woman who had actually felt the world's horror and utter disbelief. One could try to guess how old she had been, no matter - respectfully, she remembered. Who could ever forget?

Jacob, sir, your writing here is less a pattern of words but- a heart displayed.

'the day I became poetry
as one of those tears
hit me in the eye.'

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Thank you for your very kind review, em,
j.

[keith]

i concur
the worst day
of my life
for which today i write
camelot is muerte

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, Camelot died that day.
thank you, keith,
j.

[Perdition]

Walter even took off his glasses as a tear whisper from the rims. Madness was in the air and revolution. How did anyone survive the sixties? Especially 1968? Too much of a decade and thank God I was a pup thumping the Vietnam news in HI..I still remember all of it but I came mid-decade so I was more later but still loved that time period. JFK< had he lived probably would have not been such a celebrated man today...wild. Your poetry hangs the head and makes me wonder if you saw the Doors? I got to meet Robbie and Ray in NY but nobody met John other than Robert Bly in "Iron John" days..lol. Wonderful tribute to an impossible time!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I remember Cronkite doing that...he kept putting them and taking them off and his voice was cracking.
Yes, 1968 was a yearful.
Bobby and Martin...I was going to vote for Bobby...first time I could vote...he was shot on my birthday and died the next day which was my graduation day from High School.
It had its drawbacks...but there was certainly movement and a togetherness that is really lacking now.
j.