Big Black Car

Mary Oliver recently died. It's a sad loss for poetry. She was one of my first five. Richard Shelton. Sherman Alexi. Mary Oliver. Billy Collins. That one poem by Stephen Dunn about when his friend died. The part from his own that kept running through my mind after she died:

There were so many men then. I wasn't a feminist yet. I didn't know that the world of writers was dominated by men, especially white men, and that one day I would find that disheartening and disconcerting. I only knew that I liked Mary Oliver okay and that Ashley loved her. But what I came to realize over time was that while I loved poetry, the best poetry for me would often be put to music. Lyrics would often be what I found most moving. 

So today in honor of poetry. I'm going to post a poetic and beautiful song. My favorite lines are highlighted. 

Big Black Car

You were a phonograph, I was a kid
I sat with an ear close, just listening
I was there when the rain tapped her way down you face
You were a miracle I was just holding your space

Well time has a way of throwing it all in your face
The past, she is haunted, the future is laced
Heartbreak, you know, drives a big black car
Swear I was in the back seat, just minding my own

And through the glass, the corn crows come like rain
They won’t stay, they won’t stay
For too long now

This could be all that we know
Of love and all

Well you were a dancer and I was a rag
The song in my head, well was all that I had
Hope was a letter I never could send
Well love was a country we couldn’t defend

And through the carnival we watch them go round and round
All we knew of home was just a sunset and some clowns

Well you were a magazine, I was a plain jane
Just walking the sidewalks all covered in rain
Love to just get into some of your stories
Me and all of my plain jane glory
Just me and all of my plain jane glory

Songwriters: Gregory Alan Isakov