WOODSTOCK

A Poem by: Dr Ruwan M Jayatunge

Near Bethel NY

Three Days of  Peace & Music

Half -million souls gathered

Towards one direction

It was a catharsis

It was a cry for freedom

It was an ultimate emancipation

It was the magical multicoloured phenomenon of pop culture

The insignificant group of social outcasts 

Went in search of truth

Have they found it?

We don’t know yet

They were determined to go back to the Garden

Challenging the conservative traditions

Revolting against the political hypocrisies of our time

Rejecting the censored truth

Deep voice of Joe Cocker

Protest songs of Joan Baez,

Electric rhythm of Jimi Hendrix

Made their intuition strong

Battles won, treaties signed and rulers elected

New inventions made, Patent received

Factories manufactured and people consumed

But the empty space was never addressed

The cynicism of the Modern World

Errors made by the previous generation

Breach created due to the generation gap

Emphasized in a different form

 Woodstock Generation was unique

They challenged the world

Not with arms and ammunition

But projecting the necked reality of our very existence