One Day In Dallas…
The writer sighed, and, carefully
Removed the pale sheet
Of paper from the typewriter
And stared down at his feet.
This day had been a dark one,
A day of lamentation
For now it was his job to tell
Of the president's assassination.
The words he'd penned would soon be read
Aloud by Lyndon B.
At the burial service for the man
Named John F. Kennedy.
This tribute to a man so great
This tribute for the dead
Was finished now, ready to be heard
And here is what it read:
-
November twenty-two of
The year of '63,
A tragic thing befell our friend,
Dear Mr. Kennedy.
In Dallas lived a madman as
Unstable as could be
Who made a dark decision –
His name was Lee Harvey.
Now, when he learned the president
Was visiting that day,
The insane man, he hatched a plan
And quickly stole away
To the Texas Book depository –
A place where he could see
The president's procession far below –
And then, in manic glee
He shot at Kennedy and hit him twice
Once each in the neck and the head.
Jacqueline Kennedy screamed in fear,
But her husband was already dead.
-
America, she is in grief –
Her citizens are as well
But our late president, he would
Have wanted me to tell
Of things he's done and who he was,
This leader of our nation
Who wished to help the desperate
And lead them towards elation.
He was the youngest president
In recent memory
To be elected and to lead
Our wonderful country.
Against Senator Nixon, and
Against all odds, he fought
He looked the part, but wasn't a liar –
Just look at the changes he's brought.
He won the election by a nose,
And with a winning smile
He was sworn in as president –
Our leader, for a while.
-
His changes began with the Housing Act,
A wholly wonderful plan
To fix abandoned city buildings
And make our cities grand.
The minimum wages were raised,
Big business kept in check,
And homeless were placed into homes
Where once there stood a wreck
Of rubble and debris, an ugly
Crumbling eyesore –
Thanks to President Kennedy,
They aren't anymore.
He valued science and technology,
And encouraged NASA's plan
To put upon the earthen moon
The first American man.
This friendly, youthful president was
A man of kindness great;
A man that aimed to help us all –
But now, it is too late.
-
His death is sad, a terrible loss
That has left us bereaving,
But he would not have wanted us
To be forever grieving.
We must remember him as he was
And recall his legacy –
He's done so very much for us,
As you can plainly see.
Remember his kindness, remember his deeds,
Recall all that he's done
To help his fellow Americans
And keep our country one
Nation indivisible, with justice for all
A place of democracy –
May President Kennedy rest in peace
And that way forever be.