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.