Showing posts with label Vietnam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vietnam. Show all posts

Saturday, April 20, 2013

The 12th Day Of Never by BJ Neblett

Ok, here it is, my first 'officially' published work, a poem from 1967 that appeared in a national poetry anthology. The Vietnam War was escalating, there were protesters in the streets, Bob Dylan and folk rock were on the radio and the Republicans were about to be in power. I was 17 and in high school and sitting in study hall bored and just wondering what the big deal was about Friday the 13th. Calliope must have been bored that day as well. Enjoy and please feel free to comment.
BJ.


The 12th Day Of Never
by BJ Neblett
© 1967, 2013

The morning burst into a crisp,
clear gay marriage
of loneliness.
Soon the shadows of night
are forgotten and all around
is a joyful feeling
of sudden death.

It is the 12th day of never.

To the east the burning sun
is slowly climbing the skyward
of hatred and deceit.
In the garden, Alice In Wonderland
type figures have already
landed their forces in
the outer rice paddies.

It is the 12th day of never.

Scheming people turn in fear of
a strange flash of burning black
gone as suddenly as it came.
And the morning air becomes
full of cloudy, dust filled
rings of crazy people in a
crazy world.

It is the 12th day of never.

Now the sun returns to the west;
the frightening flash of total
darkness is about us.
Meanwhile, hidden deep in alleys,
people are drawing conclusions
on the walls and returning to
their coffins ‘till tomorrow.

And what of tomorrow?

Why everyone knows it’s Friday,
The 13th day of never.


                                                            Broomall, PA
                                                            November, 1967

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Black Wall by BJ Neblett


            Black Wall

 A peaceful march
‘I have a dream’
In Washington DC
What does it mean?

Hope for the future
A nation in doubt
In Dallas, Texas
Shots ring out

Black dog white cop
A church in flames
In Selma, Alabama
Nothing’s changed

Black Panthers roar
A country’s shame
In New York City
A leader is slain

Ten thousand more troops
A limited war
In countless speeches
We’ve heard this before

 Summer of love
Restlessness churns
Across America
Cities burn

Napalm rains
Children scream
In Memphis, Tennessee
The end of a dream

‘I will not run’
War escalates
In a LA hotel
Hope meets its fate

Police mobilize
Storm troopers marching
At a Chicago convention
The whole world is watching

A solider dies
The boy next door
In the USA
A living room war

Draft cards afire
Lives on the line
At Tranquility Base
A step for mankind

Protesters unite
Answer the call
At an Ohio college
Four students fall

‘Bring the boys home’
‘What’s going on?’
In America’s conscience
The words of a song

Soldiers return
A mother’s sorrow
Trapped in a wheelchair
No hope for tomorrow

Fifty-eight thousand dead
For our father’s sins
In the end
Nobody wins

Black Wall cries out
A generation turned
In Iran and Afghanistan
What lessons learned?


                                                            Raybrook, New York
                                                            June, 2006