our time would come

not quite old enough

to go

kill people in

southeast asia, we went

downtown anyway

to join in the protests

to end the war

in Vietnam.

smoke was heavy in

the air,

and sometimes tear gas.

there was music, and

lots of hippy

girls

in hippy garb with

long hair,

swimming half naked

in the reflection pool.

sometimes Bob Hope

or the Mormon Tabernacle

Choir would be

performing, but we didn't

care.

we had fun, it wasn't yet

our time to go die

over there.

we still had a few years.