This is a poignant, rhythmic tribute to a seminal moment in music history.
The tragic 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.
A poem trying to capture the "day the music died" not just as a historical event, but as a deeply personal, emotional, and sensory experience for the fans who grew up with them.
Has the passing of an icon left an impression on you?
Salute.
Title:
The Fan.
(An old voice whispers)
The rivers flowed that day
Volatile and wild
They drowned and rocked
All in that came within their way
Each drop
Saturated and overflowing
With such emotions
Like a catastrophic consuming ever swirling ocean
We all cried that fateful dark day
The Day we learned
Our beloved icons had passed away
Superstars of such revered depths
A reason why we all wept
It was February the 3rd
1959
A tragic plane crash some
Time after nine
Peggy Sue
Donna
And Big Bopper
Had fallen from the sky
And become a cropper
That was the dark day
The music died
I still remember it
Like yesterday
The wind
The snow
My heroes
On tour
Oh, how we wept
Rivers of tears
I can even feel those drops
Even after all these years
The Winter Dance Party
Turned into the party from hell
Things were never the same again
What's his name
Don McLean
Broke the spell and wrote a song
Not long after
In 71
Such a beautiful tribute
It hit number one
For four weeks
Straight
Well, memories still
Sometimes seep
Out of us all
Echoes of distant places and faces
Rivers or streams
Pin drops or silvery trails
Mine returns
Whenever I hear
Chantilly Lace
Donna
Or
That’ll Be the Day
And those old wild rivers return from 59"
To reclaim my face
(C)
Copyright John Duffy
Image shared under fair usage policy.
