"Having outgrown his conventional fetter"

When LBJ Grew his Hair LBJ grew his hair at the end (like me) Along with Howard Hughes and the rest That erstwhile paragon of conformity Felt something needing to be expressed Or else he just forgot about his hair In any case I noticed (I was there) After Watergate there was a little thaw In the frigid conservatism of The Orange County context from which I came Reflected in officeholders and in law Ironically Nixon was to blame For that false-spring brief experiment with love And soon enough it all went back to the way It seems to be inevitably Except for evolution down to this day Only the evolved dare to be free By daring they select themselves for better LBJ might not have been one of these but Having outgrown his conventional fetter At the end he had that hair no matter what Some people say LBJ was sorry for Decisions made and things he had done Or maybe he lost his mind about the war I wonder what he thought of Nixon? But unlike those he sent to fight and die there He had the luxury of growing his hair I had the feeling back then that he evolved Or at least that he was thinking then With his shoulder-length hair at those football games His presidency and his war unresolved As paranoid Nixon added names While the rest of the world wondered why and when That erstwhile paragon of conformity The unwanted dad of the nation Just might have realized the enormity Of it all at his fall by this small Gesture of reconsideration: LBJ grew his hair at the end (like me) +Steven Curtis Lance Copyright MMIX