Some people see things as they are and say why.
I dream of things that never were and say why not?
~ Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy.
Robert Fitzgerald Kennedy
November 20, 1925 – June 6, 1968
On the evening of June 6, 1968, I was 22 years old and home from college. I had been following the Democratic presidential primary even more closely than I have been following the 2008 Democratic presidential primary. One of my heroes, Bobby Kennedy, brother of the assassinated president, had just won the
When he left the podium, I sat in my chair smiling. Perhaps things were turning around. Perhaps the the future will be one of hope and promise.
Moments later my mind was screaming the words No! No! No! It can’t be! Not Bobby, too!
Then my tears flowed. Lots of tears.
Didn't you love the things that they stood for?
Didn't they try to find some good for you and me?
And we'll be free
Some day soon, and it's a-gonna be one day ...
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up over the hill,
With Abraham, Martin and John.
Just the idea that people could have faith in a politician is so alien now...
ReplyDeleteHi Nick ~~ Great tribute to Bobby Kennedy ~ that was such a tragedy.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment, glad you liked the poem. Take care, my friend
Very best wishes, Merle.
Again, Nick, you have created a moving post. 1968 was before I was born, but I feel your emotion now, even 40 years later.
ReplyDeleteAlso I want to thank you for your sidebar songs. They are always meaningful to me, just like your words and pictures.
Touching tribute, Nick.
ReplyDeleteEnjoy your weekend!
I wonder why such terrible things have to happen. He looks so very young.
ReplyDeleteThis is another splendid post!
ReplyDeleteI, too, want to thank you for your sidebar songs. They are always meaningful to me, just like your words and pictures.
I was 13 and I remember. That moment was sad beyond words.
ReplyDeleteStill makes my stomach sink...
Thanks for the nice tribute to a great man.
this makes my heart hurt.
ReplyDeleteSimple and compelling. Fine work.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate the Kennedy family being Irish.
ReplyDeleteEven though I was only three at the time, to this day, his assasination, to be brutal and simplistic about it, still pisses me off. Cheers Nick!!
ReplyDeleteI was 15 and oh so remember just how sad people were about the violence at the tat time with the Kennedys and MLK.
ReplyDeleteCompare to today, where violence is all over the place and people seem to be so indifferent to it.
I simply don't get it! ; (
I met Bobby Kennedy a few months before he was assassinated. That was when I was chairman of the state Democratic Party. His death was a shock. We were in so much mourning that I believe we could not get into the presidential election.
ReplyDeleteI remember that day much too well.
ReplyDelete1968 was one hell of a year, Rev Saint. There was so much hope and promise, justice and peace activism, interspersed with pure evil and horror. Are you going to post something about the ’68 Democratic Convention in Chicago? I hope you do, for you are able to touch and show the essence of such events,
ReplyDeleteSad. I understand he was a very good person.
ReplyDeleteMy choir just sang this song recently. I've always loved it. Bobby's death and the significance of the era in which we now walk almost feels like a mirror in time.
ReplyDeleteI'm praying that the right people rise up in peace and leadership to take this country where it needs to go.
Rest in peace, Bobby.
His words still stir a ripple of hope in me.