February 3rd's ghostly tune.

On February 3rd, of this year

the idea of sleep will horrify me.

I'll be visualizing a terrifying sight

I know will haunt me as it has

for years. 

There'll be a whistling breeze. 

Then, with its eerie melody, 

a voice will come fleeting by. 

His southern drawl will be 

unmistakable:

"You say you're gonna leave, 

you know it's a lie 'cause 

that'll be the day that I die."

The recurring words echo each year

orchestrated as notes playing

to a troubled, sputtering engine 

descending above the cornfield.

Sweat will form on my face. 

A trickle will run down my cheek.

My bed will feel like a tomb.

Panic will set in

there'll be a quick series

of sickening thuds

then, like it always does

the music will die--

in the cold, silent, snow.

Author's Note

On February 3, 1959, rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson were killed in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, together with the pilot, Roger Peterson. The event later became known as "The Day the Music Died", after singer-songwriter Don McLean so referred to it in his song "American Pie".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_the_Music_Died

Reviews

[Dye]

"There's a rush, a falling, a confusion.
Then there's a quick, sickening thud,
and the music dies in cold, silent, snow."

Pretty potent stuff. As if I can feel the silence around the country. What a tragic, sad ending for some true icons.

[Relic]

Thanks a ton for your review Dye. The silence around the field is exactly what I was thinking about in relation to the plane after it crashed.

[Dye]

Your description was perfect. I wasn't around when this happened but from your description I would imagine it to be a similar silence to when the shuttle fell.

[Relic]

I wasn't around either but yeah, I would imagine you're right. I know the family of the teacher (Sally something?) was there and saw it as it happened. There was a lot of crying and shock, but the silence that fell after is one of those things that can't be explained. I was thinking about something similar the other night. There's always an eerie bit of silence that's more pronounced when someone you know dies.

[Dye]

It's a deafening silence for sure. "Eerie"... the perfect word.

[Relic]

Its almost like the spirit is visiting and somehow we know, if that make sense. I'm odd today. haha

[Dye]

Ha ha... it's one of those nights. It makes sense though.

[Relic]

Good, glad to hear that. :)

[Corset]

And La Bamba star -Ritchie Valens- such a loss that day to the music world, you write a beautiful tribute Relic...do you really awaken to these sounds or visions? That would be horrid to relive this crash yearly.

[Relic]

Funny you should ask. At the end of last January I had a dream a plane was flying wrong over my house. I remember there was a number three on the side along with other writing. A neighbor came out it was carrying dolls. I noticed there was a patch over her eye. Later in the beginning of February--somewhere near the fourth or fifth I saw something on the net about how all three had died in the plane on the third. When I thought about it I realized that somewhere in the back of my mind I must have heard about it but forgot. Now it all makes sense. They 3 on the plane was for the date they died (possibly meaning how many musicians died as well) and the dolls and the patch over her eye was backwards. eye dolls. Idols.

[Relic]

Sorry, I should have said the neighbor came out and said it was carrying dolls.

[Corset]

The mind is such a fabulous mystery, especially when dreaming, the amazing things it comes up with, I bet your synopsis is on point, 99 percent of everything I write comes from a dream or rem sleep...I love to hear about peoples dreams and try to figure out things like you just mentioned, Idols...pretty astute I'd say.

[Relic]

I should keep a dream journal because I know I dreamt about things that have happened before. I always think to myself I know I had a dream about this. I remember seeing it.

[Corset]

I know right?! It's Fascinating, you truly should, I do now, if I can remember them, especially the poems and sentences I remember , I sometimes hear entire poems such as my "Labor Day." and "Haze"

[Relic]

I've often time heard songs. I once heard a song by the group Styx that had entirely different words. A friend of mine is a songwriter and I heard him sing an entire song one night. If only we could record our dreams.

[Corset]

I've done the same thing, heard a song in my dream, I was in a closet picking out clothes for work, in my dream that is, and I was singing to the radio, when I woke up I wrote down all i could remember and recorded the melody on one of those old handheld recorders, no one i knew had ever heard the song before...and they were musicians...really phenomenal the brain, I imagine that is how most songwriters get their songs too.

[Relic]

Paul McCartney wrote Yesterday from a dream. I think the original title was ham and eggs. haha Yeah, the brain is an amazing thing. There are so many examples of people doing amazing things through their thoughts that came to them in dreams.

[Corset]

lol, ham & eggs seriously!? that's hilarious, I didn't know that, thanks for the trivia :)

[Relic]

I heard him say it on a radio show once. There's probably something about it on youtube somewhere.

[Corset]

I was just working one up from a dream I had, are any of yours from a dream besides this one?

[Relic]

Not that I recall although its possible there may be another. Most are just from my imagination.

[Poetic Beauty]

This reminds me a haunting wrapped in mystery or it could be a memory that haunts ones mind at the same time every year. The details outstanding.

[Relic]

I appreciate your thoughts, thanks.

[Poetic Beauty]

No problem.

[Kenneth The Poet]

You said in three stanzas what Don McLean said in 8+ minutes.

[Relic]

Ha, thanks for saying that and thanks for reading.

[Broken Wings]

This is such a sad and beautiful tribute to Buddy Holly. A witty and clever write I must say, if I hadn't have clicked on the picture, I wouldn't have known what it was about. Loved every word. Thank you Lori for the RR

[Relic]

Thank you for reading, glad you liked it.

[David the writer]

So much sorrow. Buddy Holly was great! It's so sad that he's not with us anymore. Good poem, Relic.

[Relic]

Thank you.

[David the writer]

Np, I'll review more later.

[Samuel Dickens]

I was a month from turning eleven, but remember how the news affected my oldest sister and those around her age. Forever afterwards, she'd tear up when Buddy Holly's death was mentioned. He made an enormous impact on the world of music, and in an incredibly short time.

[Relic]

For a geeky looking guy he had a ton of talent. They all did for that matter. Thanks for reading Sam.

[Coyote Poetry]

It was a sad day. We lost many good musicians. I like the use of time to bring back the memory of Buddy Holly. Thank you for the photo and the poem.
Coyote

[Relic]

Thanks so much for reading Coyote.

[shallimarRose]

Looking at the picture made this piece hauntingly real.. I was small but I remember that day and the clamor around the old black & white television set..... We lost some musical genius in that crash that will never be duplicated.. Valens was only 21 I think... I loved all three of them as I grew a bit older and could appreciate the music on my brothers lps... Thank you Relic.. xoxo Rose

[Relic]

Thanks so much for leaving your thoughts Shallimar.