Today is the 47th anniversary of Janis Joplin’s death. She passed away on this day, October 4, 1970. I wrote this poem remembering her several years ago.
Dead on the Floor
“Tricky Dick” was the U.S. President
In America, a first-class stamp cost just six cents
Richard Nixon froze both the prices and our pay
We still loved going to concerts to see our favorite bands play
The Vietnam War was on the evening news for all to see
Marcus Welby, M.D. was the number one show on United States TV
Over in London, Jimi Hendrix overdosed
On Monika Dannemann’s sleeping pills two weeks before.
And in Los Angeles, John Cook found Janis Joplin dead on the floor.
Jimmie Aaron Kepler
© 2011
Originally published in “Writing After Fifty” in 2011.
It is included in the book “Gone Electric: A Poetry Collection” published in 2014.
Photo Source: By Albert B. Grossman Management (personal manager), New York. (eBay item photo front photo back) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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Published by Jim Kepler
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Reblogged this on Abbie's Corner of the World and commented:
Today is the 47th anniversary of Janis Joplin’s death. Here’s a poem written by another blogger that was published in one of his books. I’ll be back next week with a book feature of my own.