On this day 27 years ago, I can tell you that I had purchased a pomegranate. The reason for buying one has long since been forgotten, if I ever had one other than buying it on a whim.
In the late evening I was sitting at my desk in my dorm room and enjoying the sweet fruit. I bit into the plump little pods and a few sprayed their bright red juice ever so lightly on the white wall. I could see the little dots. They were quite small. Maybe no one else would notice.
Suddenly, a friend came running into my room and told me the very, very bad news. He was watching the Monday Night Football game. I watched his eyes. He was looking at the picture tacked on my door, the photograph that came with the Wall and Bridges album. A wonderful picture of John Lennon with a breezy, sunshiny smile. I put it up only a couple of weeks earlier. I had been so happy to buy his new album. He hadn't recorded an album in 5 years. It was my way of letting anybody know, this is my music and I'm happy to share my enthusiasm with anyone. In 1980 at 18, it wasn't an interest shared by my other dorm mates. But who cares. I liked what I liked.
My friend was focused on the picture but he was shaken. He said that Howard Cosell (of all people!) had announced John Lennon had been shot and killed in NY City earlier in the evening. I was staring at the tiny red stains on the wall. Suddenly they weren't so tiny.
The moment was so unreal I still can't process it any other way than by recalling the pattern of juice stains on the wall.
I've eaten pomegranates since that night. It's a traditional fruit for a religious holiday I celebrate, but for years I would not touch one.
I was so mad to be outside of NY City that night and not be able to be with family or watch the New York news channels where the coverage was obviously extensive. I had to settle for the radio. A local DJ on the station in my college town said something that at the time was trite--probably still is to most---but it's simply true; "There's a hole in the world where John Lennon used to be".
I've rarely used this blog but I just needed to somehow express my feelings on this anniversary tonight.
Suddenly, a friend came running into my room and told me the very, very bad news. He was watching the Monday Night Football game. I watched his eyes. He was looking at the picture tacked on my door, the photograph that came with the Wall and Bridges album. A wonderful picture of John Lennon with a breezy, sunshiny smile. I put it up only a couple of weeks earlier. I had been so happy to buy his new album. He hadn't recorded an album in 5 years. It was my way of letting anybody know, this is my music and I'm happy to share my enthusiasm with anyone. In 1980 at 18, it wasn't an interest shared by my other dorm mates. But who cares. I liked what I liked.
My friend was focused on the picture but he was shaken. He said that Howard Cosell (of all people!) had announced John Lennon had been shot and killed in NY City earlier in the evening. I was staring at the tiny red stains on the wall. Suddenly they weren't so tiny.
The moment was so unreal I still can't process it any other way than by recalling the pattern of juice stains on the wall.
I've eaten pomegranates since that night. It's a traditional fruit for a religious holiday I celebrate, but for years I would not touch one.
I was so mad to be outside of NY City that night and not be able to be with family or watch the New York news channels where the coverage was obviously extensive. I had to settle for the radio. A local DJ on the station in my college town said something that at the time was trite--probably still is to most---but it's simply true; "There's a hole in the world where John Lennon used to be".
I've rarely used this blog but I just needed to somehow express my feelings on this anniversary tonight.
