WE THOUGHT BACK THEN WAS A HARD TIME FOR THIS COUNTRY. WE WERE GRATEFUL THEN FOR THOSE THAT CRIED 'MAKE LOVE...NOT WAR!!!' BUT, DEAR GOD...LOOK AT WHERE WE ARE NOW. THE 'WAR' IS ON OUR OWN SOIL, WITH OUR OWN PEOPLE FIGHTING AGAINST THEMSELVES! THERE'S A OLD GOSPEL SONG, WRITTEN BY ANDRAE CROUCH, THAT GOES LIKE THIS; '...TAKE ME BACK, TAKE ME BACK, TO THE PLACE WHERE I FIRST RECEIVED YOU. TAKE ME BACK, TAKE ME BACK DEAR LORD, WHERE I FIRST BELIEVED...' INDEED, WE ALL NEED TO TURN AND SEE...GOD! THANKS FOR SHARING, MY FRIEND. LOVE, BLESSINGS AND FAITH...HIS+INSPIRATIONS
As a struggling engineering student during that time who participated only lightly into the war protest and civil rights, I was only able to briefly peek in on the enlightening music and lifestyle of young people in the late 1960s. While I enjoyed and sympathized, I didn't go all in.
I've been watching PBS's The Vietnam War. It is eye-opening in revealing the actual turmoil in our society during that era. I know that most of my contemporaries were deathly afraid of being drafted into that awful war of attrition. A more tenuous time than most of us remember.
It was a time of peace and love, but it was also a time of civil unrest that almost tore our country apart. Still, it's nice to reflect on those times and remember the good, which you did quite well.
A lot of people are writing about the past as if it was better than the present. But no one remembers that all that protesting was brought on by unnecessary wars and too many human losses. I don't think fondly back on my high school years. I remember being confused and frightened about many things. Like people are today. I don't believe people or the times change. But your poem is a perfect escapist fantasy of going back to the days as we had imagined them.
A further collection of poems, many from years in the Middle East, but also the California San Francisco and Central Coast areas (Santa Cruz, Carmel, Big Sur, Berkeley, etc.).
If you tend to believe romantic, passionate, masculine poetry is a thing of past eras, read "She Intrigues Me," and be swept away in the beautiful craft of a contemporary poet of love.
Share
Print
Save
Follow
I've been watching PBS's The Vietnam War. It is eye-opening in revealing the actual turmoil in our society during that era. I know that most of my contemporaries were deathly afraid of being drafted into that awful war of attrition. A more tenuous time than most of us remember.
Ron