philosophical problem solving. Having come of age during the turbulent 1960s, I have always considered myself a hippie. Although I am African-American, my poetry has been influenced by flower children, their music and politics. As a black hippie, I believe that the poetry, music, art, and politics of the late ‘60s and early '70s have never been given the historical importance they deserve. I continue to believe that the idealism, love, and kindness of the hippies live on - that they - we - continue to work for the peace, harmony, and community we once briefly glimpsed and lived. To that end, these poems are not polemics as much as a bracelet of dandelions offered up as ephemeral trope to joy.