RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: WORLD HISTORY
Prague
Spring
I
remember Prague Spring
The
Velvet Revolution
Such a
beautiful thing
Of human
evolution
Let the
bells of freedom ring
Imagine a
solution
And sing
I
remember the student rebellion
The
streets of Paris sixty-eight
The Champs-Elysees
barricades
A
defiance of the state
A reboot
of idealism
A challenge
to our fate
I
remember the Summer of Love
San
Francisco flower child
Peace love
and happiness
Free spirited
and wild
Questioning
the way it is
The establishment
defiled
An alternative
way of life
With dignity
and style
I remember
the Harlem Renaissance
Cultural
birth of civil rights
Cotton Club
and Langston Hughes
Redefine
the stereotypes
A celebration
of the spirit
And everything
that’s right
The darker
shades are beautiful
The colors
of the night
I
remember the Beat Generation
In the
city by the bay
A town
of artists and poetry
A movement
made of clay
Kerouac
and Ferlinghetti
Heroes
of the day
They came
for the spirits
For the
love they stayed
I remember
Tiananmen Square
The courage
of conviction
The day
the people dared
State sponsored
dereliction
On display
everywhere
Their acts
of disobedience
Demanded
that we care
I remember
the Stonewall Inn
The assertion
of gay pride
The march
to Central Park
The day
passivity died
They would
no longer cower
They would
not stand aside
They sent
a message clearly
To
places far and wide
I
remember the Chicano Moratorium
In the
heart of East LA
A peaceful
protest against a war
That planted
many Chicano graves
They killed
Ruben Salazar
To silence
what he had to say
They sacrificed
themselves
To show
us all the way
These moments
of great promise
Echo through
the halls of time
They renew
our sense of dignity
As our
history unwinds
