Allison expressed a passive, stoic quality, as if recognizing the injustice of name-calling, as if realizing the illness of the person filled with hate. Allison was filled with contradictions as any complex person is. She read Hermann Hesse and worked in a bagel factory after school. She could wear a fur coat one day and the following day blue jeans and a bush jacket . . . of the students I have met in five years of teaching, in six years of college, and of the people I have met when working in factories, gas stations, shops and offices, I cannot think of a better person than Allison Krause. In her own quiet way, she symbolized the best in young people.

-- from a eulogy by Richard R. Taworski of John F. Kennedy High School, Silver Spring, Maryland

 

 

Sunday May 3

Sunday was a peaceful day. The sun was warm and the breeze gentle. Allison spent the day quietly strolling the campus, sometimes laughing and joking, sometimes seriously discussing the past two days of disturbances on the campus. It was late afternoon when we decided to walk to the front campus and fraternize with some guardsmen.

Upon arriving, one particular guardsmen caught our eye. He stood quietly alone, a lilac in his gun barrel. Taking me by the arm, Allison walked over to him. His name was Meyers, and unlike many of the soldiers we had met that day, Meyers wore a pleasant smile, and when he spoke, he did so with a gentle compassion. He said he did not want to be guarding the campus, but when asked why he didn't leave, he looked at the ground and shyly said he couldn't.

Disturbed at the pleasant rapport one of his men was enjoying with us, an officer slowly strolled over and placed his arm around Meyers' shoulder. As we watched inquisitively, Meyers' face tightened up, his back straightened and his smile completely disappeared. The officer, yelling in Meyers' ear, ordered him to identify himself and his division. Meyers did so, and as we watched the fear swell in the young Guardsmen's eyes, the officer began

O: Doesn't your division have target practice next week, Meyers?

M: Yes, sir

O: Are you going there with that silly flower?

M: No, sir

O: Then what is it doing in your rifle barrel?

M: It was a gift, sir

O: Do you always accept gifts Meyers?

M: No, sir

O: Then why did you accept this one?

No answer

O: (Holding out his hand) What are you going to do with it Meyers?

Meyers feebly began to remove the lilac

O: That's better Meyers. Now straighten up and start acting like a soldier and forget all this peace stuff.

Realizing the officer would merely throw the lilac away, Allison grabbed it from his hand and gave him a look of disgust, but he only turned his back. As the officer walked away, Allison called after him 'What's the matter with peace? Flowers are better than bullets!'

Just a few gentle words coming from her heart, there was no profundity intended, just a natural reaction in defense of a stranger she had taken a liking to. Five simple words that will never be forgotten.

-- From a eulogy by Barry Levine, Allison Krause's boyfriend

 

 

Faded Headline

words and music
by Justice Putnam

(refrain) But Allison Krause
But Allison Krause
But Allison Krause
Is a faded headline

She's just a faded headline

(repeat)

(spoken) It was a sidewalk parade
It was a procession
One line full of killers
Another line full of victims

But I swear I saw every shoe
Stumble on the asphalt

Nothing quiet here
Nothing sacred

No gentle men here
Because the air is
Exploding

I heard someone cry,

 
"Where are we going?"

Store front
Wooden clubs
Skull without skin

Child versus Warrior

Two sides
No side wins

(refrain) But Allison Krause
But Allison Krause
But Allison Krause
Is a faded headline

She's just a faded headline

(repeat)

(m/8) You can talk
About your Rosebud Denovo

How she died a martyr
In her anarchy

(refrain) But Allison Krause
But Allison Krause
But Allison Krause
Is a faded headline

She's just a faded headline

(repeat)

(spoken) Confrontation
Ohio bloodbath

Some say, "Sweet killing!"
Some say, "Sweet Revolution!"

Someone said, "Burn it!"
The Police said, "Try it!"

The New York and
The LA Times had
One message

A TV picture riot

(refrain) But Allison Krause
But Allison Krause
But Allison Krause
Is a faded headline

She's just a faded headline

(repeat)

(m/8) You can talk about
Your Gulf War bridge crossing
Or that LA Riot TV that you stole

(refrain) But Allison Krause
But Allison Krause
But Allison Krause
Is a faded headline

She's just a faded headline

 
© (spoken) 1975 by Justice Putnam and Rose Garden Publishing

© 1992 and 2009 by Justice Putnam
Fleur de Sel Musique
and Mechanisches-Strophe Verlagswesen