12/1/1967

I've been groovin' now for fifteen years
I wonder what I'll be like when old age nears
Will I have friends and will I have fears
I wonder what I'll be like when old age nears

Will there be hate or just as many wars
Will it be possible to walk both ways through a two way door
I guess people will demand just as much as they did before.

What'll it be like when old age does me in
Do you think people will think love is a sin
Will there be so much prejudice that a black man can't get in

Will I be given a gold watch inscribed with, "you're old and we won't need you again"

"Amerika"
1968

A war like this I cannot fight, victory's not in the politicians eyes
Please hear me out,
A coward I am not,
Patriot, no, my nation's wrongs are numerous,
And pride, well it's been too long without,
I guess I forgot.

If it would be a just cause believe me
A green uniform I would dawn and an m-16 would be my conscience
But it's not.

An important decision believe me
It will be, to leave my home and
All that which is free.

I honestly feel guilty, leaving when
The going is rough, but my heart
Is too heavy, my spirits been crushed
A new start today
But if not,
A curse of a black morning sun and
Maybe then you'll see with life what
You've done.

Stop all the wars, live in the new world of the sun

Good bye Amerika, Perhaps in time
I'll return with all that I've lost
And all that I've learned, to roll
Up my sleeves and throw back
My head, just to try and work out
The troubles you've bred.

But first bring back America

(Both of these poems were posted exactly as they were written by my father Victor Arnold. We found a whole file folder full of poems and songs he wrote from the age of 14 to 25. While some if it was pretty awful (he thought it was all brilliant at the time), these two I thought were interesting enough to share. They offer a rare insight to the mind of a confused teenager during the Vietnam war era in the U.S. It also gives me a better understanding of my dad.)