REOPEN KENNEDY CASE

In a minute or so, while the shock settled in,

I said, "You want a coke or maybe take in a show?"

never questioning how history would view us,

not thinking about being any part of the history then.

Just needing some time alone with someone close to being a friend

never realizing things are never as simple as it seems.

Yes, I've had a history of tight spots and close races

in a variety of locales and other places where reason may seem skewed

though the outcomes we choose from the choices offered

are far more tangible than others on other horizons

when dreams about the future carried more meaning

than the horror witnessed; never as simple as it seems.

I now see more of the players in this Texas tragicomedy

and the veils drawn tight have been rendered transparent, clear,

scenes flicker onscreen, like lightning flashing on the empty seat...

a Greeley remark intrudes, "Go Wes young man" and he has gone

though the direction is unclear, opaque as is most of this case

as we stumble through our lines, never as simple as it seems.

The actors on the screen have it easiest, lines learned and scars of paint

while the rest of us stumble around, searching, seeking

like snow in a war-torn forest or a rose falling lightly

calling slightly back to simpler days of youthful dreams

the cry of a new-born reminding me to remind her that

Baby June needs new shoes... and it's never as simple as it seems.