1969

I stood on the bridge to watch
white boats on a river of wine.
It was 1969.
A warm breeze was blowing.
I wanted to go where they were going.

Nobody knew where I was

and I didn't want them to know.

I just wanted to go.

I didn't want anyone to wake me

before the white boats could take me.

I was ten years old

looking up at the earthshine.

It was 1969.

I wondered about planets orbiting the stars

and said, "I want to be where they are."

I stood in the backyard at night

and watched the lights of an airplane in flight,

wishing it were a spaceship

that could take me to where it was going,

someplace beyond my knowing.

I looked at the hills in the distance

as dusk was falling.

I imagined voices calling.

Every day I waited in vain for a sign.

It was 1969. - Jeff Barnes