Was Never a Flower Child
I was never a flower child.
I am of a lost generation,
between the Greatest One and the Boomers.
I threw no petals on a moon-beam’s edge,
although my face was pressed with longing
at the window in the summer of love,
while inside, I changed diapers and made lunch,
in my own summer of discontent.
I marveled about Woodstock
in a rocking chair amid lullabies.
I sang no folk songs.
I pounded no drums of protest for change.
I was never in a “sit in,” nor did I “drop out.”
I missed the communal dreams of shared corn
and shared love.
I played bridge, shared coffee with neighbors,
went to company picnics, bought new appliances,
and new school clothes,
and seldom read the paper.
Only a few years and the life path I chose kept me from being
in sync with the times.
I wore no miniskirts or tie-dyed shirts.
And worse, my hair was curly.
We took long drives with my husband’s
Nixon sticker on the car.
I do not know what I believed
about the body count in Vietnam.
There seemed to be no time to really think.
I had an unlined face and an unfurled spirit.
Although I was never a flower child,
sometimes, now in my senior years, I have a vision
where I am running freely through a field
with wildflowers in my long straight hair.
Jaris English of Renton is a retired Marketing and Public Relations professional, now a freelance columnist, board member of Allied Arts of Renton, and enjoys writing poetry, personal prose and memoirs.
SHARING STORIES is a weekly column for and about the 50 plus crowd living in the Puget Sound region. Send your stories and photos to ariele@comcast.net. Tell local or personal stories; discuss concerns around aging and other issues; share solutions, good luck, and reasons to celebrate; poems are fine too. Pieces may be edited or excerpted and shared on http://www.northwestprimetime.com. We reserve the right to select among pieces. Photos are always a plus and a one-sentence bio is requested (where you live, maybe age or career, retired status, etc.).
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