Eleven
Twenty Two
Sixty Three
I think I recall
the BBC globe
in black and white,
a spinning duality.
The program inter-
ruption in Queen’s English
like a lightning strike;
Mother’s tears,
Dad’s ambivalence —
“Your blubbering
as if you knew him!”
What youngster could
comprehend?
Yet somehow I knew
a bright star had fallen
that November day
Copyright Francis Barker 2020
Poetics – Stoddard, Longfellow and Bryant say hello! (What does November mean to you?)
Ciscography 
vivid memory of time and place here – written so well
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I cannot remember anything from that, yet I know what you talk about simply from the time and the city.
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Kennedy still has a strong hold on public imagination.
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Thank you 🙏🏻
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Thank you. I was nearly five so I didn’t understand fully
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I was nearly two, so I have no memories at all.
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Thank you 🙏🏻
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Of course
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I remember that too, Francis, I was seven. An easy date to remember as 22nd November is my daughter’s birthday. I love that the BBC globe is such an evocative symbol of our childhood.
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This is incredibly eloquent! I have heard snippets of conversation from my parents regarding the era of 60s when John Fitzgerald Kennedy .. popularly referred to as JFK was elected as President. The world has changed so much since then.
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Thank you, that’s true
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Thank you 🙏🏻
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Some days one never forgets, eh? One.among many, this.
Very clearly recalled. My hat is off
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Thank you 🙏🏻
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This is really well done and skillfully put together. Sets out a clear sense of a specific time, and the memories (even if snapshots) attached to it
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“six white horses came today
to take my daddy far away.”
I remember it on the TV. I remember the newspaper clipping with the poem and the picture. Times of great victory but also times of great evil.
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I like the perspective of the child and also from the UK. I wasn’t yet around then but yes, a dark day and you do a great job here. Thank you.
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Amazing the shared memories and knowledge that only a few details can evoke.
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Nice – such a vivid memory, it obviously made an impression on you as a child. The first one I remember was the Challenger disaster, such a shock as there was a teacher on board and we’d been learning about her in school.
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thank you
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thank you
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thank you
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thank you
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thank you
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The memory is captured in a potent way. It was a lightning strike to the world. You capture a lot of emotion in few words and I love your Dad’s reply as he struggles to make sense of the emotions himself.
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So beautifully written. I remember the lightning strike effect well, and the horror and angst of it all. Who can forget little John John saluting his father’s casket as it was carried by. A nation mourned.
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thank you
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We DID know him, as did people ’round the world. I will never forget where I was, what I was doing when the news blared from our television. Thank you for writing about him …. thank you.
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Thank you 🙏🏻
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