Photo from the day of JFK's assassinationA Poem on JFK’s Assassination: ‘Some Questions?’ by Bruce Dale Wise The Society August 8, 2023 Culture, Poetry 21 Comments . Some Questions? “We’ll know our disinformation is complete when everything the U.S. public believes is false.” —William J. Casey, former CIA director Does anybody still believe, in ode or threnody, Lee Harvey Oswald murdered John Fitzgerald Kennedy? Was there so much corruption in that so-called Camelot, and false analysis done on the body that was shot? Did many have to die to keep some cover-up in tact? How much fake news flew through the Mainstream Media, in fact? Were bosses of the Mafia involved in any way? and working with them were there members of the CIA? Were two or three hit men home-grown or brought from Italy? And what about the changing guns—was it two shots times three? So much was hushed up, even now, from sixty years ago, one wonders how much of that we will ever come to know… . . Bruce Dale Wise is a poet and former English teacher currently residing in Texas. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Trending now: 21 Responses Cynthia Erlandson August 8, 2023 Okay, wise guy, you made me look up “threnody”! Thank you for a well done, fun-though-serious poem. And the vocabulary lesson. Reply BDW August 10, 2023 Perhaps the tone was missed because of the altering of the title, the removal of one of the epitaphs, and the poem’s following notes. More Questions? by Caud Sewer Bile “I am half-sick of shadows, said the Lady of Shalott.” —Alfred Tennyson “We’ll know our disinformation is complete when everything the US public believes is false.” —William J. Casey Does anybody still believe, in ode or threnody, Lee Harvey Oswald murdered John Fitzgerald Kennedy? Was there so much corruption in that so-called Camelot, and false analysis done on the body that was shot? Did many have to die to keep some cover-up in tact? How much fake news flew through the Mainstream Media, in fact? Were bosses of the Mafia involved in any way? and working with them were there members of the CIA? Were two or three hit men home-grown or brought from Italy? And what about the changing guns—Was it two shots times three? So much was hushed up, even now, from sixty years ago, one wonders how much of the truth we’ll ever come to know… Caud Sewer Bile is a poet of Machiavellian politics. Was a surprised, wide-eyed Lee Harvey Oswald (1939-1963) a “patsy” of the US government, as he claimed on November 22, 1963, two days before his death? Was John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963), the son of an inside trader, stock manipulator, and basic overall “thief”, as described by FDR? According to Evelyn Lincoln, JFK’s favourite poem was “Ulysses” by Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892). William J Casey (1913-1987) was Director of the CIA in the 1980s. Reply Margaret Coats August 8, 2023 Bruce, some of my friends believe and question and argue no end on this topic. Your poem distills a view congenial to my own, but many others think they know more and would be dissatisfied with it. We are in quite a plight to wonder who is more thoroughly disinformed. By the way, is your form here one you have given a name? Reply BDW August 10, 2023 Ms. Coats caught the aim of “More Questions?” in her use of the word “distills”. In fact, that was why I removed the names on the first, previous printing of this poem. As to Ms. Coats’ friends, I suspect I very much agree with them about this horrible coup d’état in American history. But I have no intention in spending an inordinate amount of time, as so many great Americans, like Grover Proctor Belmont, Jr., have done. This poem is a “dodeca”, twelve lines of iambic heptameter. Reply Phil S. Rogers August 8, 2023 And has another Kennedy family member placed himself in great danger as well? Reply BDW August 10, 2023 Yes. Here is the recent Newsreel [in the manner of John Dos Passos (1896-1970)], that accompanied the poem in its first printing. There won’t be secret service for Joe Biden’s challenger— protection for RFK, Jr. “is not warranted”, that is, according to Mayorkas. But why is this so? Is two-tiered justice now on steroids? learned at Quantico? Reply Norma Elizabeth Okun August 8, 2023 I like your poem. It questions conspiracy theories, and one definition of hell is where you ask questions and have no answers. To me the whole assassination plot was simply related to not letting Castro own what investors of America had invested in Cuba and Central America. Johnson named Dulles to conduct the Warren Commission, JFK had fired him. How fair could he had been. Reply BDW August 10, 2023 Ms. Okun alludes to the Cuban part of the “assassination plot”, and that the Warren Commission was an “unfair” hoax, in the least, because of the inclusion of Allen Dulles. It is lucky for her that she had not mentioned such things sixty years ago. Reply Cheryl Corey August 8, 2023 Why is the deep state so hell-bent on the cover up? I say open the files. Open them all. Reply BDW August 10, 2023 What is Ms. Corey speaking of? There’s nothing to see here. Reply Russel Winick August 9, 2023 This is a fine poem, on a subject that many people still wonder about. Thanks for sharing it. Reply BDW August 10, 2023 Mr. Winick points out that “many people wonder still about” the poem’s central topic, the assassination of JFK, perhaps because they bought the lies of “Life” and the Mainstream Media, like CBS, the Associated Press, etc. Even to this day, almost sixty years after the assassination of the President, American Lee Harvey Oswald (1939-1963) is still alleged to be the US Marine “…who assassinated John F. Kennedy…” at Wickedpedia. Reply Roy Eugene Peterson August 9, 2023 So many candidates: Soviets, Mafia, LBJ, Castro, Oswald on his own, and teamsters among them. Your questions are certainly valid as we still ponder who and why. I also learned that a “threnody” is a “lament.” Reply BDW August 11, 2023 The Sacrificial Lamb by Brice U. Lawseed Who was the sacrificial lamb? Lee Harvey Oswald was. Who set him up to take the hit? US Intelligence. Who did the killing, and were willing, to destory a man? The Mafia and CIA were members of the plan. Who did not try to find what happened? People in the press. Who worked to cover-up the crimes? The pols and the police. Who worked to find the truth? Run-of-the-mill Americans, eye-witnesses who would not bend to haughty arrogance. Who still believes that he is innocent despite the lies? His mother did, at least unto the last, until she died, and many more of us who do not buy the fake reports, about a man not given a fair trial in the courts. Reply C.B. Anderson August 11, 2023 Where were you, Bruce, when Mark Lane needed you? BDW August 12, 2023 He worked his work, I mine. BDW August 26, 2023 Mr. Peterson is right to include LBJ. Reply Mia August 10, 2023 I was very young when JFK was shot but still remember the shock I felt. Even in another country miles away without the media that we have now. So I have always wondered why. Thank you for this poem . I think it is very timely. All I remember is that the world was more hopeful when he was president and a light went out when he died. Reply BDW August 11, 2023 That Day by Brice U. Lawseed I still recall the day when Kennedy was shot, and died. I stood beside my gray-long locker back in junior high. I cried. But why? I was naïve. It made no sense to me. I did not understand the circumstances of the deed. I did not think we lived in Camelot, not in the least; but neither did I think we lived in Hell beneath the Beast. I’ve learned so much since then, when C. S. Lewis passed away— November 22nd, 1963—that day. Reply Gregory Ross August 10, 2023 This poem summarizes each of the many theories well. I have only recently began looking into the conspiracy theories, some of which I think are conspiracy facts. Reply BDW August 12, 2023 I concur with Mr. Ross’s assertion that “More Questions” summarizes, what he articulately calls “conspiracy facts”. That was one of the purposes of the dodeca; and to do so in terse verse. At times, that can be quite effective, as in Randall Jarrell’s “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner”, or as in Mr. Ross’s rondeau “Jägermeister”. Of some interest to some, Mr. Oswald had trained as an aviation electronics operator, and was assigned to Marine Air Control Atsugi in Japan. Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Cynthia Erlandson August 8, 2023 Okay, wise guy, you made me look up “threnody”! Thank you for a well done, fun-though-serious poem. And the vocabulary lesson. Reply
BDW August 10, 2023 Perhaps the tone was missed because of the altering of the title, the removal of one of the epitaphs, and the poem’s following notes. More Questions? by Caud Sewer Bile “I am half-sick of shadows, said the Lady of Shalott.” —Alfred Tennyson “We’ll know our disinformation is complete when everything the US public believes is false.” —William J. Casey Does anybody still believe, in ode or threnody, Lee Harvey Oswald murdered John Fitzgerald Kennedy? Was there so much corruption in that so-called Camelot, and false analysis done on the body that was shot? Did many have to die to keep some cover-up in tact? How much fake news flew through the Mainstream Media, in fact? Were bosses of the Mafia involved in any way? and working with them were there members of the CIA? Were two or three hit men home-grown or brought from Italy? And what about the changing guns—Was it two shots times three? So much was hushed up, even now, from sixty years ago, one wonders how much of the truth we’ll ever come to know… Caud Sewer Bile is a poet of Machiavellian politics. Was a surprised, wide-eyed Lee Harvey Oswald (1939-1963) a “patsy” of the US government, as he claimed on November 22, 1963, two days before his death? Was John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963), the son of an inside trader, stock manipulator, and basic overall “thief”, as described by FDR? According to Evelyn Lincoln, JFK’s favourite poem was “Ulysses” by Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892). William J Casey (1913-1987) was Director of the CIA in the 1980s. Reply
Margaret Coats August 8, 2023 Bruce, some of my friends believe and question and argue no end on this topic. Your poem distills a view congenial to my own, but many others think they know more and would be dissatisfied with it. We are in quite a plight to wonder who is more thoroughly disinformed. By the way, is your form here one you have given a name? Reply
BDW August 10, 2023 Ms. Coats caught the aim of “More Questions?” in her use of the word “distills”. In fact, that was why I removed the names on the first, previous printing of this poem. As to Ms. Coats’ friends, I suspect I very much agree with them about this horrible coup d’état in American history. But I have no intention in spending an inordinate amount of time, as so many great Americans, like Grover Proctor Belmont, Jr., have done. This poem is a “dodeca”, twelve lines of iambic heptameter. Reply
Phil S. Rogers August 8, 2023 And has another Kennedy family member placed himself in great danger as well? Reply
BDW August 10, 2023 Yes. Here is the recent Newsreel [in the manner of John Dos Passos (1896-1970)], that accompanied the poem in its first printing. There won’t be secret service for Joe Biden’s challenger— protection for RFK, Jr. “is not warranted”, that is, according to Mayorkas. But why is this so? Is two-tiered justice now on steroids? learned at Quantico? Reply
Norma Elizabeth Okun August 8, 2023 I like your poem. It questions conspiracy theories, and one definition of hell is where you ask questions and have no answers. To me the whole assassination plot was simply related to not letting Castro own what investors of America had invested in Cuba and Central America. Johnson named Dulles to conduct the Warren Commission, JFK had fired him. How fair could he had been. Reply
BDW August 10, 2023 Ms. Okun alludes to the Cuban part of the “assassination plot”, and that the Warren Commission was an “unfair” hoax, in the least, because of the inclusion of Allen Dulles. It is lucky for her that she had not mentioned such things sixty years ago. Reply
Cheryl Corey August 8, 2023 Why is the deep state so hell-bent on the cover up? I say open the files. Open them all. Reply
Russel Winick August 9, 2023 This is a fine poem, on a subject that many people still wonder about. Thanks for sharing it. Reply
BDW August 10, 2023 Mr. Winick points out that “many people wonder still about” the poem’s central topic, the assassination of JFK, perhaps because they bought the lies of “Life” and the Mainstream Media, like CBS, the Associated Press, etc. Even to this day, almost sixty years after the assassination of the President, American Lee Harvey Oswald (1939-1963) is still alleged to be the US Marine “…who assassinated John F. Kennedy…” at Wickedpedia. Reply
Roy Eugene Peterson August 9, 2023 So many candidates: Soviets, Mafia, LBJ, Castro, Oswald on his own, and teamsters among them. Your questions are certainly valid as we still ponder who and why. I also learned that a “threnody” is a “lament.” Reply
BDW August 11, 2023 The Sacrificial Lamb by Brice U. Lawseed Who was the sacrificial lamb? Lee Harvey Oswald was. Who set him up to take the hit? US Intelligence. Who did the killing, and were willing, to destory a man? The Mafia and CIA were members of the plan. Who did not try to find what happened? People in the press. Who worked to cover-up the crimes? The pols and the police. Who worked to find the truth? Run-of-the-mill Americans, eye-witnesses who would not bend to haughty arrogance. Who still believes that he is innocent despite the lies? His mother did, at least unto the last, until she died, and many more of us who do not buy the fake reports, about a man not given a fair trial in the courts. Reply
Mia August 10, 2023 I was very young when JFK was shot but still remember the shock I felt. Even in another country miles away without the media that we have now. So I have always wondered why. Thank you for this poem . I think it is very timely. All I remember is that the world was more hopeful when he was president and a light went out when he died. Reply
BDW August 11, 2023 That Day by Brice U. Lawseed I still recall the day when Kennedy was shot, and died. I stood beside my gray-long locker back in junior high. I cried. But why? I was naïve. It made no sense to me. I did not understand the circumstances of the deed. I did not think we lived in Camelot, not in the least; but neither did I think we lived in Hell beneath the Beast. I’ve learned so much since then, when C. S. Lewis passed away— November 22nd, 1963—that day. Reply
Gregory Ross August 10, 2023 This poem summarizes each of the many theories well. I have only recently began looking into the conspiracy theories, some of which I think are conspiracy facts. Reply
BDW August 12, 2023 I concur with Mr. Ross’s assertion that “More Questions” summarizes, what he articulately calls “conspiracy facts”. That was one of the purposes of the dodeca; and to do so in terse verse. At times, that can be quite effective, as in Randall Jarrell’s “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner”, or as in Mr. Ross’s rondeau “Jägermeister”. Of some interest to some, Mr. Oswald had trained as an aviation electronics operator, and was assigned to Marine Air Control Atsugi in Japan. Reply
