The Fan

 

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.