The 22nd of November

If anyone is crazy enough to want to kill a president of the United States, he can do it. All he must be prepared to do is give his life for the president's. - JFK

Dallas Love Field-Air Force One touches down at 11:40 a.m.

Political tensions high as President and First Lady bestow smiles

to smilin’ Texans beneath a sky painted blue

An elderly lady’s outstretched hand

A little girl lifted high on her daddy’s shoulders

 

His rifle his only friend

Somewhere a lonely, angry man drifts deeper into madness

 

Placards proclaim “Dallas Welcomes Kennedy”

Jacqueline, in pink Chanel, holds a bouquet of crimson roses

In her white-gloved hands

A smile exchanged between husband and wife

A gentle wave to the adoring crowd as the motorcade pulls out

 

His rifle his only friend

Somewhere a lonely, angry man drifts deeper into madness

 

Elm Street

Gunshots

Chaos all around

A blood-stained pink suit

Parkland Memorial Hospital

Doctors work frantically

One pm, Central Standard Time

A man passes from this life to the next

 

Spent shell casings on a dusty floor

His rifle his only friend

Now left deserted and forsaken

 

And somewhere a lonely, angry man drifts deeper into madness

Author's Note

"Well, Mr. President, you can't say that Dallas doesn't love you." - Nellie Connally, First Lady of Texas, to President John Kennedy seconds before he was assassinated.

Reviews

[kublakhan27]

I had to stop watching that scene whenever it shows up somewhere. I watched it a couple of times when I was younger for curiosity's sake, but watching someone get killed so graphically with a camera rolling tends to put a damper on one's day. I like the dynamic of this piece...it's like a newsreel morphing into poetry, that morphs into a character study of sorts. I like the way you've explored the psyche of the shooter (Oswald I guess?) in the context of the scene that is so bluntly presented. Well done my friend :)

[Rebecca Buller]

Thank you so much for the review! I love history, so to write this was both enjoyable and heartbreaking. Fifty years ago today JFK had just one week to live. Time moves right along.

[Joyce S. Greene]

This brings back so many memories, Rebecca. You have written a very moving poem and I thank you for it. Who knows where our country would now be if that angry, madman had not killed Jack Kennedy.

[Rebecca Buller]

Thank you for the review! I actually wrote this after watching the film "Parkland." The chaos of that day was overwhelming & the fact that an American president died on a cold table in an ugly Dallas hospital is just...not how he should've died. It's all so wrong somehow.

[Girl Friday (Sarah W.)]

This is something that I've seen several times...I've seen the autopsy photographs and the reinactments...it's become too much for me to take, really, and now I just can't bear to watch it anymore. For me, this one spoke in images of the mind. We see a different angle, so to speak, and this entire thing was all about the angles from the very beginning. Strong writing...visceral, visual and emotional.

[Rebecca Buller]

Thank you for the review, GF! And I agree that it's so heartbreaking to watch. Recently I watched the film "Parkland" & the most devastating part was watching the Secret Service men & Kennedy's aides wrestle the casket onto Air Force One. They had to take out a panel to even get it onboard. The country moved on, but we've never been the same since.

[MsJewel]

Such a chilling character study. The repetition of the line "his rifle his only friend" gave me chills. You are very talented and this is an amazing poem!

:) Julie

[Rebecca Buller]

Thank you for the review, Julie:-) I'm glad you enjoyed it.