Member Poem

Fearless Innocence
 Eve Gaal
 
 
Hey friends,
we were young once.
No fear of falling
flying or drinking.
There was a time we weren’t scared of anything!
Except some distant warheads
hidden under Moscow snow.
Our teachers were having a great time.
Many spoke about drugs--
They snickered and blushed--
talking about MJ or weed.
(Grass was what we played on during recess.)
They warned us about LSD—
Such cool affected voices,
In leather fringed vest and boots.
Some of them had to tell the
groovy story.
Reminding us to question authority.
And sex?
We could choose to be oblivious—
Giggling-- rolling our eyes--
While their eyes widened
Lighting up the room,
quickly closing behind hidden memories
and a certain misty,
far-off look we hoped to aspire to someday.
Love.
Not like Nanna’s kiss on your forehead.
Not the kind at the drugstore.
Though we all loved nickel cones and double scoops for a dime.
This love made people sing, dance and kiss.
English teachers inspired us
with poetry and music.
They sandwiched the STD film between the Zapruder
and The Man Without a Country.
We dreamt of going to San Francisco
to braid flowers into our hair.
There was so much to learn--
We had to get the boots.
 
When we were young and
ran down stairs.