There is sadness in the air all ‘round, there is grief and gloom today,
And a disbelieving world stands back aghast,
And on the White House roof top in the far USA,
A Spangled Banner flutters at half mast,
For the news was shrieked through nations, to the out posts of this earth,
And the ill word there and then was quickly spread,
And the world in silence listened with a stifling of all mirth,
That John Fitzgerald Kennedy was dead.

He was the hope and inspiration or each freedom-loving race,
The cavalier of progress and of peace,
And his few short years in office made the world a better place,
And saw age-old hates and rivalries decrease,
But that deadly sniper’s bullet brought an end to all his dreams,
And with his wounds a staggering world bled,
And the anguished voice of Justice issued forth protesting screams,
When John Fitzgerald Kennedy lay dead.

But his mighty name will linger in the Councils of the free,
And wherever Christian tenets are held dear,
And his strong determined purpose will inspire good men to see,
A bulwark built on righteousness, not fear,
And when all future ages will have followed where he led,
When hate and racial prejudice have gone,
Then in the final reckoning it can truly be said,
That John Fitzgerald Kennedy lives on.

William O’Donnell

©2018 The estate of William O’Donnell (Chiswick)