The history lessons I received in school
Have very little connection to the stories
My grandfather waited until I was 25
To begin sharing with me
School sounded a lot like the TV shows
Ads and movies that were produced
As Saturday morning serials in his day
And kiddie cartoons in mine
This should have made me nervous as a kid
Since FDR and MLK, the Cold War and Vietnam,
Sputnik and Neil Armstrong, crack and AIDS,
Computers and nukes, Coltrane and the Greatest
All changed history between my generation and his
But since there were bright colors and waving flags
I tried hard to believe the myths I was taught
After all, what else could possibly be true
© Gayle Force Press 2015
A poem by Franklin Oliver
The WhoDeannyPod 