By Shelby Armor

The Desert Town Hall Forum hosts Caroline Kennedy, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan, next Thursday, March 8. Typically, the Youth Town Hall invites high school students to meet the featured speakers. Because Ambassador Kennedy is such a force in the poetry world (editing 19 New York Times best-selling anthologies), The Desert Town Hall Forum sponsored a poetry contest in her honor. The theme? “Giving Back”–for Ms. Kennedy and her extended family “exemplify a dedication to public service.” Shelby submitted the following poem:

Time is a fleeting thing

Going by before the chance to reflect is given

Going by with too many forgotten moments

My dad told me of Times where he went through battles

Battles he fought for his country

Battles he fought for himself

Battles he fought for his parents

He told me that these Times possessed lessons

He told me to always give a firm handshake

To never give opposers the satisfaction of victory,

Even if it hurts

I took these lessons with me through my life

And Time passed

The ever-fading moments flitting by me,

As I desperately tried to hold onto his lessons

And to form my own

When my father passed, I kept his memories with me

And when my children would ask about him,

I passed on his lessons

Telling of the battles he fought

And the things he sacrificed

I gave back everything he taught me

I gave them my own memories of Times gone by

The lessons I learned

The ones I took with me

The battles for myself

The battles for my dad

The battles for them

They took these lessons with them

And I knew that I had given them all I could

Lessons from fleeting Times that have passed

 

Editor: Renée Vazquez