Wednesday, March 09, 2011

Summer Solstice 1967 (poem)

Summer Solstice 1967

it was 1967
the first night of summer
and P and I drove from Portland
to the Stonehenge replica
along the Columbia River
high on a bluff
on the Washington side

P's brother and friends
drove over from Seattle
engineers at Boeing
and arrived with a case
of strong homemade mead
and we'd brought pot brownies
and the party was on

we partied the long warm night
above the river under the stars
drinking eating laughing
and laughing some more
and had Stonehenge to ourselves
a revelry ahead of the curve
a night never to be forgotten

finally the sun rose and someone
decided to test the shaft of sunlight
through the placement of stones
but the beam was placed wrong
the stones were out of joint
these builders were poor Druids
but it didn't ruin the party

we crashed into sleeping bags
on the hard ground above the river
but slept only a few hours
before the interstate traffic below
filled with trucks and woke us
and I remember a frowning tourist
not pleased with our party scene

did they report us? who cares?
the party was over
a night for the ages
and it wasn't just the mead
it wasn't just the pot
it was mainly the laughter
loud and repeated into the night

we didn't think we were Druids
we were young and alive
and thought we could do anything
so when P's brother had the idea
we gathered at Stonehenge
for the summer solstice
and had our all night revelry

and P and I were happy
so it didn't matter
if the stones were out of place
or a morning tourist disapproved
P and I were happy that summer
the divorce still years away
oh yes P and I were happy

--Charles Deemer

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