Meditation On 1963

First pangs  of passion for a girl

first twinge of trouble in my world

first view of fabric always tearing

and scabbing back on ancient seams

John F Kennedy shot dead

as we sat silent in our classroom

and Pope John the Twenty Third

a light for searching Catholic youth

dead before the sparks of hope

could light a warming fire

While out in California

Pat Brown’s housing legislation

is opposed by most state senators

and up and coming Ronald Reagan

Say what you will about smoke-filled rooms

Jesse Unruh strong-armed them

beat them all into submission

and passed the radical legislation

banning housing discrimination

For every healing mend a rend

Ah             the greatest generation

and real estate associations

who pushed a state wide proposition

to kill the ban on discrimination

The voters passed it

                                                two to one

and three years later

                                                Brown was done

defeated by the hero

                                                Ronald Reagan