Ave
JFK
Look
not to a constellation
For a portent for the nation.
As
still we live beneath a pall
With the meanest rent of all.
Ask
not for a sign celestial
Beaconed
to the realm terrestrial.
Ask
instead how deeds infernal
Sit
before the Judge Eternal.
What
can we do for country fair?
What
can a mere plebeian dare,
When
honored men have gravely spoken,
Leaving trust in honor broken?
Trust your judgment, trust your eyes,
Take
no comfort in their lies.
Let
them make their devilŐs pact.
Keep
your integrity intact.
If
Teutons can tear down their wall
And
gulag commissars can fall,
Then
truth at home at last can out,
Assassins
can be put to rout.
With
no Mark Antony in sight,
The
land can still be put aright,
So
we can say before we die
That we have ceased to live a lie.
Though
history cannot be reversed,
We
still can learn how we were cursed
To
blunder badly in the East
And
see the dogs of war released.
Could
one so flawed have done so much
To keep us out of evilŐs clutch?
ÔTis true, indeed, we hardly knew him.
Ere
we had a chance, they slew him.
David
Martin
Home page Poetry Poetry Archive 2 Contact