I found this in the old poetry folder. I was 16 when I wrote it. I was starting my senior year of high school. The Summer of Love would come right after graduation.

I remember that I composed it as a song, although I had no melody in mind.

“Peace!” the children bleated,
Brandishing punning pens.
I watched as they sang out a slogan.
I saw their identical grins.
They paired off and spun round in circles,
Then regrouped and shouted out “Love!”
And drawing their circle together,
They bowed to the wing of a dove.

“Peace!” they exchanged as they parted.
Their mothers were calling them home.
The pinwheel of streets stirred in motion
As every one ran off alone.
I witnessed the night’s quiet lifetime,
The stars spun their dances above.
But the children, alone and too timid,
Dared not even whisper out “Love!”

“Peace!” crowed the children at daybreak,
Lynching the frightening night.
They baptized the sun with their smiles
And rolled in the comfort of light.
They talked in their circles for hours,
They banished the nights they had feared,
And, looking at only each other,
Sang “Love!” till the sun disappeared.