The Capitol March

In early spring 1970,
The season of delirium
On Michigan State University campus,
Protest marches
Against the war in Vietnam
Were in full swing.
A march to the State Capitol building
In Lansing some seven miles away
Had been organized.
I decided to tag along
With some forty thousand others.
The line stretched out for miles
Four to six abreast
And I was somewhere in the middle.
The riot police were out in force,
But we were an orderly crowd,
Mostly singing chants for peace.
I was half way there
When sirens started to scream
In the distance,
First one, then two, then dozens.
We were frozen in place
Not knowing what was going on.
The mood became explosively tense
As each of us prepared to run.
This struck fear in my heart
For I realized I was trapped
By the surrounding walls
And the sea of humanity around me
With nowhere to go.
Many of us would have been
Trampled and killed
Had the crowd started to run.
This was a time hatred abounded,
And the nation was torn apart
By those for and against the war.
A single spark
Could have ignited a riot,
And caused a catastrophe.
Something major was going on
And we didn’t have a clue
What it was.
Everyone waited nervously
Wondering and speculating
What would happen next.
Finally the word came down
That a drunk in an ugly mood
Had driven into the crowd
Hitting a couple policemen in the process
And injuring a number of marchers.
Somehow sane heads prevailed
And both the drunk
And the injured were rescued
Without further incident.
The march eventually continued
And I made it to the Capitol
Where everyone seemed to be
In a festive mood.
We crowded around the building
Getting our pictures taken
By cameramen with high powered lenses
Hanging out the Capitol windows.
I walked back to campus
With my friend, Carla.
Enjoying the rain along the way.
Some people stopped
And offered us a ride,
But we simply grinned
And quacked at them
Proceeding on our way,
Toward a perfect end
To an eventful college day.