before leaving for the summer

before leaving for the summer
i watched a film about Woodstock
and heard the White Rabbit music by the Jefferson Airplane
but when night fell it began to rain
and it rained for forty days and forty nights
i had an itinerary and booked my flights
saw a few friends pass California grass on their hand-rolled time,
Brother, can you lend me a dime?
and rolled slowly down to a hot food tent
where i was politely asked to pay the farmer's rent
i said there must be a mistake
no one is having a bad trip listening to the Grateful Dead!!
there are innocent babies sleeping in a nearby bed
and the jungles of Vietnam are thousands of miles away
American soldiers are being killed there
while Buddhist monks continue to pray
high on a shining mountain
at the intersection of hope and despair
tens of millions of gentle people camping through the 60's wearing
nothing but long hair
not far from the New York Thruway
and the Golden Gate bridge
a country fellow on the Choctaw Ridge
welcoming Earth Day
all across the nation
people smoking homemade love
as did the Peace dove
so i grabbed my bags when you finally reached me
i saw the sparkle in your eyes
better than any early morning Christmas surprise:
and in the winter we'll stack our wood for the fire
filling shelves with our better Selves.