What ever happened to
the peace and love we spoke of, 
decades before? Our realism of idealism 
before capitalism; humanity above profit. 
Conscious thought. Truth.
Was this a concept 
within a dream, altered by greed 
and get-rich-schemes 
that became the way of the world. 
Do we know how it happened?
Can we understand? Why?
Each generation judges those before, 
every generation knows a state of war. 
This reality becomes hard
when the violence is right there 
in your backyard. Fact.
Something is not the same.
We were young once. Age 
now testimony to where we have been, 
what have we witnessed, and
how we have failed those 
who shall follow. Evolution.
How do we speak of freedom? 
Can we hold a stranger’s hand? 
Are weather-beaten symbols and 
time-ravaged slogans relevant any more? 
Honesty. Do we remember 
how to make love, not war?

© 2019 j.g. lewis