Poem: The Music of You
Her Love of Fifties Music
In addition to growing up in Santa Paula, California with Mexican and Spanish melodies, my mother-in-law loved much of the popular fifties music. It was an era defined by beautiful harmonies, strong voices, and catchy tunes. Unlike, some of the songs in the sixties and seventies, you could clearly hear the words being sung. There are very few people who love music as much as she does and I felt it to be apropos to express her musical life through a poem.
Poem: The Music of You
If your music could talk,
it would tell me
about your spirit.
It would speak to me
about your dreams,
the childhood songs
of pink lemonade and
yellow and orange daffodils,
the moment your starry eyes
saw that curly-haired kid in overalls.
Your songs would tell me
about the laughter
in your house,
the stories
your uncles shared,
the fresh empanadas
from the oven,
Granny doing cartwheels
and splits on the dance floor.
All those 45s and LPs
spinning on your Magnavox,
heartthrobs strumming
Recommended
Spanish guitars,
Elvis and Jerry Lee
at the sock hops
rocking in the school cafeteria.
I hear your music
sweet and clear,
coming through
your bedroom window
from the squeezebox man
to the doves serenading you.
I hear the songs of love and adventure
sailing down the coastal highway
in your boyfriend’s white chariot
with the top down.
Music playing all day
in and around your head,
the rhythm of the rustling palm trees,
the melody of the whispering Santa Paula winds,
static at times on the AM radio,
but your vinyl never skipped
a beat.
YouTube Poem: The Music of You
© 2018 Mark Tulin
