POEM - Uncle Dan and Clearance Vinyl

I ended up riding in the front seat

Of the car of my cousin's grandparents

With them sitting solemnly in the back

While Uncle Dan drove us to the funeral

A mismatched load of extras

Heading west on I-10 to Yucca Valley

Staring at the window playing the shy teenager

Somehow a tape started to play

A dramatized history

Like one of those old radio shows

Potential for cheesy boredom very high

But as cool as I wanted to be I got sucked in

Dan and me both

After the sadness of the funeral was over

We rushed back to the car

Maybe a little too eagerly

Returning to the entrancing respite

From the tragic and difficult reality outside

And the tape began to play again

Both of us enthusiastically surrendering

To the unfolding drama

Emitting from the speakers

Engulfed in the blissful distraction

We made it back first

Way ahead of everyone else

We changed into play clothes

Waited for a minute

And still no sign of further arrivals

Dan was impatient to sit still

So we ran out on an errand to Target

It was a serendipitous trip

They were clearing out their record stock

Downsizing the less popular offerings

Anything with a hole in the cover was a dollar

Dan made a beeline for the stacks

In no time had a large collection

He threw a few extras on the pile for me

A couple essential albums

Music I needed to own

So I wouldn't wane in the finer things

I gladly accepted the gift

Anxious to hear what was so important

Especially the one Dan said was vital

WAR - Greatest Hits

I soon found out

I was woefully unaware

Just how lacking my education was

When those amazing sounds hit my ears

From the first soulful bass line of All Day Music

To the final notes of the cruising anthem Summer

I was entranced

Over and over and over again I played it

Over 20 years later and it is still spinning

The first album I play

On each new record player