Transcript

I’m Major Jackson and this is The Slowdown.

My grandfather was one of those grandfathers that sang in the house — full-throated bluesy songs about bad luck and trouble, songs about helpless love and beautiful women. He sang to no one, yet he projected as if to an audience at a grand concert hall. “Everyday, everyday I have the blues,” he crooned. “When you see me worryin' baby, yeah it's you I hate to lose.”

When I was not yet a teenager, he took me to see the blues singer B.B. King. Onstage, King told the story of playing a small nightclub in Twist, Arkansas, early in his career. A fight broke out between two men, causing a fire. The great musician ran into the flames to retrieve his Gibson guitar. He named it Lucille — after the woman the men were fighting over — as a reminder to never risk his life, much like the trope of the face that launched a thousand ships.

I did not appreciate the depth of emotions behind the songs my grandfather sang, until one morning when I arrived early to high school for track practice to see my crush holding hands with my best friend. Whew! I could have sung a hundred blues songs, and would have felt none the better.

But I came to understand something about love; we are creatures with wild hearts. We hurt to the core when done wrong. The ones we love may not love us back. Still, very little satiates our appetite for companionship and affection. And thus, we are vulnerable, prone to passionate behavior, from loyalty to fierce protection, from devotion to possession. From the outside, such emotions might appear irrational, but it always makes for fiery art.

Today’s poem illustrates how encompassing and identity-forming it is to love another person.

That’s My Heart Right There
by Willie Perdomo

We used to say,
That’s my heart right there. 

As if to say,
Don’t mess with her right there. 

As if, don’t even play,
That’s a part of me right there. 

In other words, okay okay,
That’s the start of me right there.

As if, come that day, 
That’s the end of me right there.

As if, push come to shove,
I would fend for her right there.

As if, come what may,
I would lie for her right there.

As if, come love to pay,
I would die for that right there. 

“That's My Heart Right There” by Willie Perdomo from THE CRAZY BUNCH © 2019 Willie Perdomo. Used by permission of Massie & McQuilkin as agents for the author.