She lifts the one-piece blue gym suit toward the camera,
that relic of our girlhood trials~
the stretchy, scratchy, sweat-soaked uniform
we wriggled into like reluctant acrobats.
It hangs from her hand like a captured beast,
its elastic edges still whispering
of locker rooms, loud whistles,
and the long-ago tyranny of mandatory jumping jacks.
Her grin is bright, almost defiant.
“I survived the blue gym suit,” she says,
as if announcing a medal earned through
endurance, embarrassment, and sheer adolescent grit.
And truly~
for every teenage girl who fought that fabric,
who peeled it off after class like a second skin,
who learned early that some battles
are won simply by outlasting them~
it is a lifetime achievement award.
A small, silly triumph.
A shared secret.
A reminder that even the strangest struggles
become stories we hold up proudly
once we’ve lived long enough to laugh.
plastic pink barrette
fluffy petticoat puffed sleeves
nineteen sixties girl
in the sixties they teased our hair
with a comb, they put rats in it
making it higher and higher
it could never be high enough or fluffy enough
Combing it out was a nightmare
because after they ratted it they sprayed it
with enough hair spray to choke six elephants
the good old days!
In the light of the South where the sun burns bright,
We march for freedom, we march for right.
With each step forward, we push through pain,
Dreaming of a world where love will reign.
The streets are filled with glimmer of hope,
As we gather strength to help us cope.
In the face of hatred, we stand tall,
United we rise, divided we fall.
My children ask me, "Why must we fight?"
I tell them, "For justice, for what is right."
For the dream of equality, we strive each day,
In the land of the free, we pave our way.
Though the road is long and fraught with fear,
Our voices echo, loud and clear.
From Selma to Montgomery, we march on,
In the name of freedom, until dawn.
Cher, Tina, Liza, the Beach Boys too
Elvis singing of two shoes, both blue
Finger motions with Bunny Foo Foo
A whiff of Old Spice and Elmer’s Glue
Lennon’s Fancy My Chances With You
Pop beads, Skipper dolls, TM’s guru,
1960’s items make me smile and coo
And feel seventeen for an hour or two
That peacock is straight out of the sixties I told the throng.
One of them was way too young to know. He said that I was wrong.
He is the colors of the sixties – oranges, yellows and pink.
How do you know? He asked me. Was he afraid to think?
Tom the Cat has some new amazing ideas up his sleeve.
He is constantly outsmarted by Jerry, a mouse who is his peeve.
He has built a mousetrap guaranteed to get this varmint once and for all.
It is camouflaged like leaves, and about sixteen feet tall.
Tom is confident that he will be eating roasted mouse tonight.
He loves the idea of grilling Jerry up; a tasty rodent delicacy delight.
Jerry has outsmarted him for the last time, he is sure of this.
He chases Jerry into the yard, but alas, something goes amiss.
Tom the Cat ends up in the mousetrap and all the mice are laughing.
He is caught in his own slick idea, while the mice lie down for napping.
What the heck! Why do the animators tease and torment him this way?
He is forlorn and angry again for the remainder of another bad day.
some other world passed by that night
through wet circles on the glass.
against the blur of dark and light
crowds swarmed and walked en-masse.
the storm picked up along South Shore
spitting patterns on the screen.
the wipers rubbed and squeaked once more
leaving fan shapes where they’d been.
the lights that danced above the clubs
were synced to move like real.
they chased down piers and past the pubs
and round the ferris wheel.
our car would crawl and stop again
as we queued in single file.
through steamed up windows and driving rain
beat the heart of The Golden Mile.
beware atomic attack!
1950s civil defense
duck and cover drills
Bert the turtle
showed us the way
flash of light - duck and cover!
Hollywood’s Lucille Ball, loved by many,
had an enormously profound effect on me.
She was funny and kind and goofy,
and so wonderful, she lit up my 1960’s TV.
My favorite show of hundreds of thousands
is of her and Ethel making candy.
Until Carol Burnett came along, I thought a funnier
woman could never be.
This gorgeous entertainer will probably never
know the enormous effect she has on me still today.
Many an evening I laugh until I cry at her
funny antics on my TV, I love to watch her play.
Mickey Mouse purses
Wizard of Oz bags
Disney’s Cinderella t-shirts
They have been around for nigh onto seventy years
Yet somehow we feel like we have just discovered them,
Thinking they are new.
Mickey Mouse thongs
They are not new
We used to wear them in the sixties
On our feet.
MARVEL 1960s
As I journey into mystery
I come across the tower of shadows
Into the chamber of darkness
I'm found tales to astonish
Hulking and giant men
Sub marina
Involved in tales of supense
Iron men and american Captains
Oh! but strange tales
Doctors and one eye patch wearing --
government men
Women named Millie and Chili
and both of them are modeling
Alien beings silver surfering in the skies
UFO's and nova alien beings from all over
Barbarian conan astonishing tales
Kazar Doctors of doom, ghost riders
Adventures amazing inhumans
Black widow, cloak and dagger
Rawhide kid Sgtof fury howling commandos
Leatherneck raiders and Captain Savage
dun know if ya old enough
or even if you know what I'm talkin bout
Mention titles above of marvel 1960's hero books
who say's this poem has to rryme of even be good
I said mention above titles of old marvel comic texts
And yea I'll even mention "NOT BRAnD ECHH"
MARVEL 1960s
Written by James Edward Lee Sr.
12/23/17
The back of the leg was seen as a place
That was suitable for a slap,
For a child who was rude, or out of control,
Or who stood in the kitchen when Mum had been baking,
And who sneakily stole
A freshly-baked, still-warm sausage roll,
Who, on hearing a footstep,
Stuffed it in her mouth – whole,
And received a slap, and a sending to bed,
To think about what she had done.
Now it’s fifty years on, and Mum’s long gone,
And looking back, I guess I deserved that slap,
But who could resist a freshly-baked, still-warm sausage roll?
Women's liberation
Bras burned
Girls were confused…excited!
Gloria Steinem central figure,
Speaks out.
Women shout.
Politicians doubt.
Equal Rights!
New thinking. New songs. New vocabulary.
Debating: Equal jobs for equal pay.
Strong women.
Many followers.
Surprisingly, numerous men quit opening doors.
Woodstock proclaims, “Make love, not war!”
Many soldiers die; "Vietnam Conflict" rages.
Soldiers come home, their world, changed.
War heroes were ignored.
Women worked untraditional jobs.
Many prayed.
Many died.
© May 25, 2011
Dane Ann Smith-Johnsen
Written for Poetry Soup Member Contest: MAGIC OF DECADE'S MOOD
Sponsored by: nette onclaud
The stale still win and the pulsating sounds of police sirens
Followed by the hard thud of a twelve gate shot gun firing
Instantly tears my heart to shreds
Because another black man or should I say another ***** is dead
As I ran to the scene of bloodshed and tears
What I see is what I feared
I fall down to my knees
And with a thunderous cry I beg
The Lord to have mercy on me please
And like our savior Jesus Christ before his time of doom
I cried out to God with a voice of gloom
And asked him to take away from me this black curse, this black sin
That seems to follow me and my black skin
And then
I uplifted mine eyes and I saw
This very thing that they called the law
Plunging towards me with eyes filled with hate
The intensity of the situation leaving me in a shocked state
I heard the crack of my skull, felt the dept of the bruise
And I knew that this was my destiny
The one I didn't choose
Then it all went dead, I remembered nothing after that
Everything suddenly faded to black
Back to black
Where it all began
-Lyric-
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