The Way it Was

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: EQUALITY

The Way it Was

 

I remember when there were no gays

High school kids showered together

There was no other way

 

I remember when the minorities

The blacks and browns and Asians

Lived in their own neighborhoods

Went to the same schools

They weren’t the best neighborhoods

They were broken down houses

And secondhand schools

But as far as we knew

(and as far as we know today)

They liked it that way

 

I remember when the boys got all the glory

The girls were their cheerleaders

Boys ran for president

Girls were secretaries

Men got bigger paychecks

Women were their servants

Men did the “hard” jobs

Women ran the home

Men did all the talking

Women didn’t have much to say

For all we knew and know

They liked it that way

 

I remember when it was cool to say

I’m free white and twenty-one

We were the chosen ones

We were the privileged ones

The world revolved around us

And that was okay

As far as we knew and know

We all like it that way

 

The John Lewis Bridge

 RANDOM JACK POETRY HOUR: EQUAL RIGHTS

The John Lewis Bridge

 

Edmund Pettus was a leader of the KKK

They named a bridge after him

And on that bridge years later

They beat the hell out of black marchers

Marching for equal rights

Marching for the right to vote

Marching to be recognized

 

In an enlightened age there would be

no Edmund Pettus Bridge

It would be torn down stone by stone

Iron beam by iron beam

Scattered across the nation

Placed in museums and town halls

to remind us of our former ignorance

 

Instead let us remove the name of

Edmund Pettus and replace it with

one of the brave souls beaten on that

fateful day: The John Lewis Bridge

 

Let it be remembered by all who cross

the price that was paid that day

 

Let it serve as a reminder of the triumph

of the human spirit

The power of light over the darkness

Of good over evil