The Land That Made ME, ME - Poem
Posted Sunday, May 3, 2009 11:08 AM

 

Long ago and far away, in a land that time forgot,
Before the days of Dylan, or the dawn of Camelot.
There lived a race of innocents, and they were you and me.

For Ike was in the White House, in that land where we were born.
Where navels were for oranges, and Peyton Place was porn.

We learned to gut a muffler, we washed our hair at dawn,
We spread our crinolines to dry, in circles on the lawn.

We longed for love and romance, and waited for our Prince,
And Eddie Fisher married Liz, and no one's seen him since.
 
We danced to 'Little Darlin,' and sang to 'Stagger Lee'
And cried for Buddy Holly, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

Only girls wore earrings then, and 3 was one too many,
And only boys wore flat-top cuts, except for Jean McKinney.

We fell for Frankie Avalon, and Annette was oh, so nice,
And when they made a movie, they never made it twice.

We didn't have a Star Trek Five, or Psycho Two and Three,
Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty in the Land, That Made Me, Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold, and Chester had a limp,
And Reagan was a Democrat whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr. Wizard, but not a Mr. T,
And Oprah couldn't talk, yet, in the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had our share of heroes, we never thought they'd go,
At least not Bobby Darin, or even Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal, and life was yet to be,
And Elvis was forever in the Land, That Made Me, Me.

We'd never seen the rock band, that was Grateful to be Dead,
And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson, and Zeppelins were not Led.

And Beatles lived in gardens then, and Monkees lived in trees,
Madonna was a virgin in the Land, That Made Me, Me.

We'd never heard of microwaves, or telephones in the cars,
And babies might be bottle-fed, but they weren't grown in jars.

We hadn't seen enough of jets, to talk about the lag,
And microchips were what was left, at the bottom of the bag.

And Hardware was a box of nails, and bytes came from a flea,
And rocket ships were fiction in the Land, That Made Me, Me.

Buicks came with portholes, and side shows came with freaks,
And bathing suits came big enough, to cover both of your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles, and skirts below the knee,
And Castro came to power near the Land, That Made Me, Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride, we had no Hill Street Blues,
We had no patterned pantyhose or Lipton herbal tea
Or prime-time ads for condoms in the Land, That Made Me, Me.  

There were no golden arches, no Perrier to chill,
And fish were not called Wanda, and cats were not called Bill.

And middle-aged was 35, and old was forty-three,
And ancient were our parents in the Land, That Made Me, Me.

But all things have a season, or so we've heard them say,
And now instead of Maybelline we swear by Retin-A.

They send us invitations, to join AARP,
We've come a long way baby, from the Land, That Made Me, Me.

So now we face a brave new world, in slightly larger jeans,
And wonder why they're using, smaller print in magazines.

And we tell our children's children, of the way it used to be,
Long ago and far away, in the Land, That Made Me, Me