WHAT I LEARNED FROM JOHN LENNON

THE WORLD IS FULL of blowhards ready to blow up the world. Some imagine a kiss and kindness give peace a chance.  Only those who foolishly hold onto possibility have a chance to change this world.  Some will remain forever in the dirt of this earth, but who looks in another’s eyes and sees stars may walk across the universe.

SOME LEAVE THIS EARTH too soon and we are left in wonder.  I remember the night John Lennon died, the voice of Vin Scelsa on WNEW back when a radio station still had a voice.  I remember the tilt of my sister Sharon’s head, the one small tear in her eye.  She is not given to tears, so the one she gave meant much. My brother Jim said nothing in his most eloquent way.  For some but not all, night again becomes day.  There is a light that comes at dawn, sometimes creeping wounded, bloody over night’s back.
 
THE SUN THAT COMES now over earth’s horizon and its light belong to us all.  John Lennon sees it somehow, somewhere still across the universe.  In my life I have learned what I have means nothing if what I have cannot be shared.  In the end all we have is each other and often not for long.  If the like of Lennon, John means anything to you as it means to me, share your light in this universe here.

Comments

[Neil Shakespeare]

Very nice, H.

[comandante agi]

Thanks H. I wonder what John Lennon would be writing about if he were alive today. Here's my take...

[Donna]

John was my favorite Beatle. Actually, I think he was the favorite of my brothers too. I remember when John was shot. My brother ran in the house to tell us. He'd heard about it on the car radio. Someone turned on the TV and the entire family was glued to it for hours. My brothers and I wept. He was the only celebrity I ever felt anything for. He was real. His convictions were real. His music was real. A hole was left in the universe when he departed.

[Rex Kramer, Danger Seeker]

The Beatles broke up on my birthday (ok, I was 2, and was probably more inclined to eat a beetle than to hum Yellow Submarine, but you have to start a post somewhere.) I recall vividly learning of Lennon's death; I'd been given one of his albums by my uncle only days before (note: albums were like CD's, only bigger and less shiny.) I remember being sad, deeply and heart-breakingly sad, and not really knowing why. As the years go by, however, I realize that the feelings of loss, like all feelings experinced by a child, are intuitive and honest. As an adult I wonder, "what was the great loss? He was one guy, a musician no less! What difference could he have made?"

But the child knew, and deep down I know. Koo-koo-ka-joob.

[Missouri Mule]

I have a cousin that I swear went into a deep depression over his death. Hey, I liked his music, really I did. But I'd didn't lose any sleep over his passing or go crying into the street with my Bic.
What I did like about Lennon was that he knew most of his fans were idiots and they made him sick. Well that and he couldn't stand Paul.

[Diane]

I have been sad for 25 years over John's death. John made me laugh, he validated my feelings, he was a model of courage. When I learned he had been shot, I was so terribly sad. I still am. He never knew what it really was like to be 64, and so last year's anniversary made me especially sad.

[The Heretik]

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup,
They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind,
Possessing and caressing me.
Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.

Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes,
They call me on and on across the universe,
Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box they
Tumble blindly as they make their way
Across the universe
Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.

Sounds of laughter shades of earth are ringing
Through my open views inciting and inviting me
Limitless undying love which shines around me like a million suns, it calls me on and on
Across the universe
Jai guru deva om
Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.

[Rizalist]

Peter and Gordon, who were friends with John and Paul, were in town recently (boy they're OLD!) for a reprise of a concert they had done in Manila 40 years ago. But they mentioned John as having written a song for them once which they sang and got a standing ovation for...he was a maker of memes...

[The Heretik]

Rizalist, do you remember what the song was? I thought P and G only did Mccartney tunes.