Tuesday Afternoon

 

Tuesday Afternoon

Tuesday afternoon

I’m just beginning to see

Now I’m on my way

It doesn’t matter to me

Chasing the clouds away

Moody Blues

 

Those of us of a certain age probably remember this song by The Moody Blues. Where I lived, a radio station always played the song, of course, on Tuesday afternoons. Not just once that day but several times. People began calling the station in the morning to remind the DJ not to forget. If that day was raining, how much better the song sounded. Radio disc jockeys, or DJs, were kings then. The DJs knew music history. Listeners could call and ask questions such as the date the song was recorded, who wrote the song, or what was the song’s inspiration. You could hear the song on the radio at the same time as other people. Radio was social media before Facebook and MTV came along.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Come to the Indiana State Fair!

The DJ repeated the announcement so many times that I knew exactly the location, the day and time where the radio station booth would be. Purðue Extension Building was the only building with air-conditioning. I won a lot of concert tickets over the years such as Z Z Top, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, REO Speedwagon and Gallager, who is a comedian not a musical act.

The DJ said to be at the entrance of Door B at The Colisseum the night Aerosmith played. The first 100 people received a bracelet that entitled you to great seats (not front row of course). All those who yelled “WIFE FM Radio Rocks!” in the microphone was handed a ticket for a free large soft drink and popcorn. An attendent ripped your ticket and dropped half into a wooden barrel.     Five people would win an official Aerosmith tee shirt if their tcket number was called. Grand Prize was a tee shirt, a copy of the new album, an interview at the radio station to talk about your experience and…a Backstage Pass to meet the band!

Pick me! Pick me! Please please please!

But I didn’t win one of the tee shirts or the Grand Prize either. Some tall skinny guy with long greasy hair, ragged Levis, and a Jack Daniels tee shirt was called up to the stage. The radio station manager put the spotlight on the young man and handed him the prizes. The manager had him say thanks three times because he kept mumbling.  Lucky guy Billy, Danny, Larry, Bobby, Tommy or whatever his name was had his dream come true.

I spent all my money on the last available shirt. Fifteen dollars. LuAnn, who I’d come to the concert with, had deserted me so I was ready to walk home. She went off to sneak in backstage. I was waiting by the Exit doors when a group of very friendly girls and guys invited me to a party at one of their homes. They gave me a ride in their Chesty’s Potato Chip delivery van. I remember the mom fed us cheeseburgers she cooked on the grill. She must have looked the other way as we mixed 7 & 7s, which were made with Seagrams Seven whisky and 7-Up. We played music and called the radio station. Lara Lea, everyone’s favorite nightime DJ, put us all on air by using the house’s four extension phones. We talked about what a fantastic concert it was especially when Steven Tyler sang “Dream On Dream On Dream On Dream Onnnnnnnnnnnn.”

I woke up the next morning on the family room floor wearing my Aerosmith tee shirt. The girl’s mom drove us all home because we were weak, nauseous, heads pounding from pain, moaning and hung over from our wild night at the state fair. 

Different times.

Dream On

Dream until your dreams come true.

Every time that I look in the mirror

All these lines on my face getting clearer

The past is gone

Oh, it went by like dusk to dawn

Isn’t that the way?

***********

 

 

Comfortably Numb

Pink Floyd

lyrics

 

Hello? (Hello, hello, hello)

Is there anybody in there?

Just nod if you can hear me

Is there anyone at home?

Come on (come on, come on) now

I hear you’re feeling down

Well, I can ease your pain

And get you on your feet again

Relax (relax, relax, relax)

I’ll need some information first

Just the basic facts

Can you show me where it hurts?

There is no pain, you are receding

A distant ship’s smoke on the horizon

You are only coming through in waves

Your lips move, but I can’t hear what you’re saying

When I was a child, I had a fever

My hands felt just like two balloons

Now I’ve got that feeling once again

I can’t explain, you would not understand

This is not how I am

I have become comfortably numb

I have become comfortably numb

Okay (okay, okay, okay)

Just a little pinprick

There’ll be no more

But you may feel a little sick

Can you stand up? (Stand up, stand up)

I do believe it’s working, good

That’ll keep you going through the show

Come on, it’s time to go

There is no pain, you are receding

A distant ship’s smoke on the horizon

You are only coming through in waves

Your lips move, but I can’t hear what you’re saying

When I was a child, I had a fever

My hands felt just like two balloons

Now I’ve got that feeling once again

I can’t explain, you would not understand

This is not how I am

I have become comfortably numb

I have become comfortably numb

Okay (okay, okay, okay)

Just a little pinprick

There’ll be no more

But you may feel a little sick

Can you stand up? (Stand up, stand up)

I do believe it’s working, good

That’ll keep you going through the show

Come on, it’s time to go

There is no pain, you are receding

A distant ship’s smoke on the horizon

You are only coming through in waves

Your lips move, but I can’t hear what you’re saying

When I was a child, I caught a fleeting glimpse

Out of the corner of my eye

I turned to look, but it was gone

I cannot put my finger on it now

The child is grown

The dream is gone

And I have become

Comfortably numb

********

Dan Antion’s Sixth Annual Thursday Doors Writing Challenge

This is my poem I wrote in response to Dan Antion’s Sixth Annual Thursday Doors Writing Challenge. He has photos on his blog No Facilities of various doors contributed by other bloggers. I chose this door photo as my inspiration. I immediately thought of Pink Floyd’s song Comfortably Numb. 

 

 

 

Hello, Hello

by Kay Castaneda

 

Hello, Hello

Is anybody there?

Are you home

or anywhere?

You’re trying to hide from me,

I know it.

 

Someone said you disappeared

but you return when the right one calls.

It must not be me you wait for.

You disconnected my voice,

ripped the phone out of the wall.

Yet I still go there

and sit in that booth waiting,

sip a Lemon Coke and

powder my nose in my compact mirror.

 

A sign says the entire building

will be demolished next month 

due to hazardous wiring.

It’s bad for the environment,

unsafe and behind the times

and it’s no longer needed.

Laws were passed in favor

of sleek shiny stainless steel.

 

I have my cell phone in my purse

in case you come out of hiding

and get tired of talking to machines.

I took a photo of the phone booth

of the way it was before.

 

I stole the phone book of course!

No one will read it,

both the Yellow Pages and the White Ones.

I walked away and turned around

but the phone booth was gone.

Did you hear me?