Monterey
“It was the first rock festival ever,
even before Woodstock,” Alex Trebek read
the Final Jeopardy clue.
“Thirty seconds to write your response.”
Then the hypnotic fairy tale Jeopardy jingle
tripped out over the air
as the contestants pondered the question,
pens poised over tablets
Only one got the answer,
the guy who was already leading
by a couple grand .
The other two came up blank.
The Monterey International Pop Music Festival
three days in June, 1967,
just after I’d turned fifteen
thousands of miles away in Michigan,
a Midwestern teenager glued to the radio.
Eric Burdon later composed a hit song about it.
“The people came and listened.
Some of them came and played.
Others gave flowers away.
Yes they did.
Down in Monterey.
Ah, the summer of love.
How long ago that seems now:
how long ago it was!
And I’ve still never been to Monterey.
Charles Rammelkamp’s latest book, Fusen Bakudan (“Balloon Bombs” in Japanese), was published in 2012 by Time Being Books. It’s a collection of poems about missionaries in a leper colony in Vietnam during the war. He also edits an online literary journal called The Potomac - http://thepotomacjournal.com/.
“It was the first rock festival ever,
even before Woodstock,” Alex Trebek read
the Final Jeopardy clue.
“Thirty seconds to write your response.”
Then the hypnotic fairy tale Jeopardy jingle
tripped out over the air
as the contestants pondered the question,
pens poised over tablets
Only one got the answer,
the guy who was already leading
by a couple grand .
The other two came up blank.
The Monterey International Pop Music Festival
three days in June, 1967,
just after I’d turned fifteen
thousands of miles away in Michigan,
a Midwestern teenager glued to the radio.
Eric Burdon later composed a hit song about it.
“The people came and listened.
Some of them came and played.
Others gave flowers away.
Yes they did.
Down in Monterey.
Ah, the summer of love.
How long ago that seems now:
how long ago it was!
And I’ve still never been to Monterey.
Charles Rammelkamp’s latest book, Fusen Bakudan (“Balloon Bombs” in Japanese), was published in 2012 by Time Being Books. It’s a collection of poems about missionaries in a leper colony in Vietnam during the war. He also edits an online literary journal called The Potomac - http://thepotomacjournal.com/.