Jo Balistreri

Summer of 1962

In the time of Martin Luther King and Detroit in flames, my children and I gathered around an old upright each night to learn the songs of Pete Seeger. We sang with gusto "We Shall Overcome," "Guantanamera," "What Side Are You On Boys." We mixed peaceful protest with Roger's and Hammerstein's "Dites-moi," "Getting to Know You," and others. The songs wafted out the open windows that hot summer and after weeks of hearing us, a few neighbors began to sing along.

car bombs broken glass
from the dry grass
a chorus of cicadas