Miscellaneous:

[Kit Carson]

“What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground?”

We were so far away from Cal-Berkley
So far away
I was one of the 75,000
That packed the outdoor cathedral that night
In that other place of worship in the south
On the campus of The University of Tennessee
In Knoxville
Birthplace of poets and actors
On the 28th day of May
In the year of our Lord
1970
Just 24 days after the fourth of May
And the campus of Kent State was not
So far away

“Tin soldiers and Nixon coming…”

Our own ROTC building
Was fire-bombed that night…
I was twelve
Both my sisters, eighteen
Would be on campus in the fall…
And on those golden fall Saturday afternoons
When we all gathered
In this hallowed place
Named after gridiron coaching legend
The General ~ Robert R. Neyland
I would sell cokes and watch my heroes…
Conredge Holloway was one
First black quarterback in the SEC…
What that man did with a football…
But it all seems
So far away

“one…two…three…four…what are we fighting for?”

We were there to see the Reverend
Dr. Billy Graham
He stood tall with a voice
Of hope and promise
And when he spoke…
You wanted to believe
Just like another man I listened to
When I was four
But now that eternal flame of Camelot
With all its hope and promise is
So far away

“I hear that train a coming…coming round the bend…”

We had been there four days before
When another legend
The Man In Black
Talked of the prisons
We walk ourselves into
And we were invited to come down
And Momma urged me to go
But I halted…
And she decided to come back
And give me another chance to be saved
I didn’t know how to tell her
I met Jesus at the Boy’s Club
And God and I were cool
With each other…for the moment…
But sometimes he seems
So far away

“We’ve seen the last of good King Richard…”

And on this night
Another friend of Mr. Graham dropped in
Richard Milhouse Nixon…
He talked about football
But he couldn’t even hold Jack’s jockstrap
And he came to the “bible belt”
To prove he could walk onto
A college campus in America I guess
But the war had come home
To Middle America at last
And King Richard heard the jeers
And even though I was there
To get that old time religion
I got the voice of revolution
And the bells of freedom ringing
Through the hills of East Tennessee
Thanks Mom
Perhaps Berkley was not
So far away

“Onward Christian soldiers…marching as to war…”

Looking back, I can see
That was the beginning of the end
Yes I was later baptized in the water
Fully immersed and risen
Southern Baptist to the core…
But within a year we would transfer
To the Episcopal faith…
A place where your neighbors
Didn’t count your sins
While desperately hiding their own
King Richard and his merry men
Would have their day in court
Even Billy Graham would learn
To keep him far away
So far away

“Four dead in Ohio…four dead in Ohio…how many more?”

And what of the revolution?
It slowly died as the war wound down…
But not before Middle America
(Dad)
Stopped believing the lies…
This was not the government
Of FDR, Truman, Ike
Or JFK
Bombing Cambodia should never have been
A plan of action
Lying to the American people
And the soldiers should never have been
A plan of action
Using a religious event to cover your
Agenda should never have been
A plan of action
Using the National Guard with live ammunition
Against college students should never have been
A plan of action

“And on the bloody morning after…one tin soldier rides away”

I read the news today, o boy…
Are those days really
So far away?

Mike Carson
5-17-2008

[Virgin Rebel]

Nice piece, I was feeling the whole theme, it is like you incorporated your own personal experience with historical events. great job

~ Peace

[Kit Carson]

Thank you very much for that great comment...we usually do not know an event is historical when it is occurring.

[nomadicrhymer]

Mike, this is an absolutely fantastic piece!! I so love the way you have brought it to life through the eyes of a young boy, remembering long lost days of old, some innocence lost...very captivating piece...a new fave!!

Nomad