Scorching hot mid-May morning
UA campus, Tucson
Just a week following Kent State
In psychedelic-colored secondhand school buses
faded tie-dyed VW vans
and even a few in slick ‘57 Chevies, they arrived
Pouring into the Park Avenue neighborhood
the unexpected California sit-in roadshow
clogs the western campus entrance
Throngs of half-naked, long-haired people
Some say, 20,000 strong
My guess, at least a couple thousand
beaded, bearded, barefooted, stoned Hippie freaks
descending, like outer space aliens
overpowering campus and city police
National guardsmen arrive, dressed to kill
Even they couldn’t disperse the sit-in
lasting two long timeless days
Joints burning well into the night
That familiar sticky sweet smell hovering
like a thick smoky cloud over campus
Enough for a contact high
just walking through the motley crowd
The dope was one thing, but for me
the music and dancing took the cake
Upon reflection…
maybe even better than Woodstock
Then, without warning
on the morning of the third day
they left, as quickly as they came
Taking nothing, leaving only
thousands of MJ roaches, empty wine bottles
and their handmade Make Love, Not War signs
Next stop? Santa Fe
Poetic Alchemist 
Andrew: Thanks. It is great!
Wish I was with you — really. I love Tucson and used to live out side of Santa Fe.
Aurora: Well, I guess we’ll have to write yet another poem about all this. I don’t know either, but it did change me.
Kent: Yeah, I hear you. I am much more worried about what I see today…so many more people are dying at the hands of others. Everything has become so much more extreme. So much more violence. This was not what I saw in the 60s and 70s. Well, aside from Kent State.
Hi Don. I honestly don’t know the answer to that one, but appreciate reading your viewpoints on the subject.
You’ve captured so well something of the spirit of that time of sit-ins, etc. What a strange time it was. Do you think that spirit is gone? I don’t think I see it today like we did then. I see a lot of cynicism and frustration with the way things are sometimes, but its not being handled the way it was in the 70s.
Thanks so much Dan, Andrew, and Jill.
Andrew: Hope you enjoyed Tucson.
Dan: Yessir. You got it.
Jill: Glad you found your way over here. Stop back.
I followed your link from gotpoetry that you put in a comment this morn. What a wonderful site, Don! I’ll be coming back to it, for sure.
A few weeks ago I was staying a mile or two from AU. Yes, I can see how May can get hot there. 🙂
Good one.
Yep –change yourself, change the world.
Kai: Glad to hear you’re doing well. Thanks for the comment.
Aurora: Thanks. Good question. While clearly they played some role in social change and political action, I am inclined to think they had a greater personal growth impact. Lots of young people working out who they are. And your thoughts?
Do you think those sort of sit-ins made any difference, Don?
Good poem, by the way.
pretty good.
hope you’re doing good