( I posted this in 2001 when the Bethlehem bankruptcy was declared and it seems an appropriate repost on the anniversary of JFK's death..)
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I'm not sure why I'm writing this. I don't have what it takes
To get across this obscure point I'm trying hard to make
But please allow this effort I will put forth, if you may,
For Bethlehem Steel's bankrupt. That's the news I read today.

I'm a product of the sixties - I was born in '45..
My teen years were a time that made me glad to be alive.
Elvis was still the king and then the Beatles came along..
"Happy Days" was more than just a sit-com and a song.

Camelot ruled Washington in the form of JFK,
A giant of a President, historians would say
With John-John, Jackie and Caroline and Ted and Bobbythere
They were, beyond a doubt, a family beyond compare.

There was a young comedian just starting named Vaughn Meader
Who had the perfect voice to parody our nation's leader.
He made an album of comedy he called "First Family"
A brilliant show of satire and good-hearted comedy.

The album sold in the millions. It was genius at its best.
He poked fun at the Kennedy's inskits of perfect jest.
Allow me, please, to mention one so you can clearly see
The keen wit of Vaughn Meader as he plied his comedy.....

JFK speaking to Jackie in 2002: "Jackie, I certainly enjoyed
being President. Bobby enjoyed being President. Teddy
enjoyed being President. Then I enjoyed being President
again! But I suppose the highlight of it all will be tomorrow,
dear. Just think......Caroline's coronation!!!"

Back in '62, you see, it seemed that there would be
A whole long line of Presidents whose name was Kennedy
But let me get back to the point I'm trying hard to make
To show the strange and winding road the hand of Fate can take.

There was a skit...a small piece I remember 'till this day...
A news reporter on an interview with JFK.
He asked him if the kids were spoiled with the lives they led.
Kennedy just smiled at him and this is what he said........

"We like to keep young Caroline
On an even keel.
We bought her an erector set....
Bethlehem Steel!"

The joke was funny because that company was some big deal!
The Golden Gate and Empire State were built with Bethlehem Steel!
To think of it as some child's toy was really pretty funny
(Although it would be possible with Kennedy clan money!)

So here we are - 2001 - and JFK is gone,
Jackie, too, and Bobby, shot down by assassin's gun.
John-John crashed his plane last year and went to join the rest
And Teddy is still breathing but his life has lost all zest.

I lived through all that time and saw them pass on, one by one,
Each death a piece of my own life that faded and was gone
But, somehow, news today made everything so much more real
When I read the news this morning of the fall of Bethlehem Steel.

Perhaps it's just a symbol of the icons I had known
Which seemed once so invincible and yet they now are gone.
I'm not sure what I'm saying here...this poem is pretty bad
But the fall of Bethlehem Steel today has made me very sad....