impressionable youths lost on diverse journeys
united in a common conundrum of displaced energy
spent repairing broken hearts & former loves,
ignoring possibilities skeptical of outcomes; we’d
gather under blue moons to romanticizing pretense,
Blanch DuBois cautious—avoiding light, concealing truths;
the Avalon Ballroom offered psychedelic flickers
muted luminescence that strobed over our bodies as they
throbbed in time to Janis, the Cream & Jimi Hendrix,
exquisite notes falling like diamonds tossed in an abyss,
tinkling out of sight when a sex, drugs, & rock ‘n roll
fix ceased to be enough & we watched Timothy Leary
followers as they “dropped out” forever, picked up a rifle,
graduated from college, or ceased to dream.