Just A Man

(On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy, 35th President of the United State, visited Texas.)

He of the stylish coif
and she of the elegant pink suit
went riding in their limousine
under sunny Dallas skies,
Camelot come visiting.
Their people cheered,
cried, bowed down
before the god and goddess.
The king and queen
waved and smiled
until the crack of the hunter’s rifle
found its prey,
and Camelot lie shattered
in fragments of skull and brain.
In the land
that was to share their glory
we shuffled about in a fog
while church bells tolled
their relentless requiem.
Hysterical sisters,
friends of mine,
heard their father say,
Don’t cry,
he was just a man,
get on with your lives,
and so they did.
Not long after,
their father lie dying
on his living room floor,
heart bursting,
and again they got on with their lives
because he was just a man.
And like them, when losses came
I got on with my life
because he was just a man.
A piece of Camelot stayed with us,
safely tucked away,
but more than the glory 
that might have been
I’ll remember that when I’m gone
others will get on with their lives
because I’m just a man.