In My Life

In My Life
Christopher Bogart

If you could live
My last sixty years
In one single day
In time,
Then you would know
The ebb and flow
Of thoughts upon
My mind.

You would know
About Howdy Doody,
Viet-Nam, Selma
And Rootie Kazootie,
Kent State,
And state
The Dream Speech
By heart.

You would have danced
To the Blues Magoos,
Saw Woodstock,
Little Rock,
The Asiatic Flu –
And saw social issues
Tear the land
Apart.

You’d have felt
The warmth
Of puppy love,
The thrill of crush,
The flight of doves –
Raising your emotions
To the sky.

And in time you’d learn
Of loss, despair,
Retreating youth,
Receding hair,
Split seams,
Lost dreams,
The value of a lie.

For then you’d know
The highs and lows
Of one small life –
My life;
And know
That through
Experience
You’d learned
Just this:

Life’s a long, long journey
Through the years –
Filled with days of wonder,
And nights of tears –
All glued together,
Somehow,
With just one kiss.

For man is not
A lone creation,
But destined
To achieve salvation
By loving one another:
This is his bliss.