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28 Nov: "Key to the Highway" by Mark Halliday

Key To The Highway

I remember riding somewhere in a fast car
with my brother and his friend Jack Brooks
and we were listening to Layla & Other Love Songs
by Derek & the Dominos. The night was dark,
dark all along the highway. Jack Brooks was 
a pretty funny guy, and I was delighted
by the comradely interplay between him and my brother,
but I tried not to show it for fear of inhibiting them.
I tried to be reserved and maintain a certain
dignity appropriate to my age, older by four years.
They knew the Dominos album well having played the cassette
many times, and they knew how much they liked it.
As we rode on in the dark I felt the music was,
after all, wonderful, and I said so
with as much dignity as possible. "That's right,"
said my brother. "You're getting smarter," said Jack.
We were listening to "Bell Bottom Blues"
at that moment. Later we were listening to
"Key to the Highway", and I remembered how
my brother said, "Yeah, yeah." And Jack sang
one of the lines in a way that made me laugh.
I am upset by the fact that that night is so absolutely gone.
No, "upset" is too strong. Or is it.
But that night is so obscure—until now
I may not have thought of that ride once
in eight years—and this obscurity troubles me.
Death is going to defeat us all so easily.
Jack Brooks is in Florida, I believe,
and I may never see him again, which is
more or less all right with me; he and my brother
lost touch some years ago. I wonder
where we were going that night. I don't know;
but it seemed as if we had the key to the highway.
—Mark Halliday

3 comments:

  1. AJSeptember 1, 2016 at 2:25 PM

    It is Day 19 and yesterday and today I don't really feel like reading poetry...but I must keep with the flow!
    I really liked how this poem was written in story format. It was entertaining to read the simple lines with more thought produced later in the poem. "Death is going to defeat us all so easily"...did this thought come from a reflection of that night being so perfect or did something else happen? I suppose that is why we have moments like that- to give the scale little balance of knowing we could lose them so quickly.
    "But that night is so obscure- until now I may not have thought of that ride once in eight years- and this obscurity troubles me." Current times in his life made him think back on this night- memories are so powerful...I like how he remembers this night.
    This is another poem that references age..."it seemed as if we had the key to the highway"...young versus older perspective...eight years prior- maybe in high school and now mid twenties? Crazy how much changes in that particular eight years.

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  2. JimboSeptember 1, 2016 at 3:05 PM

    I would guess even older. He hadn't thought of it in 8 year. It could have been a lot longer ago.

    The brother must have died. That is why the narrator thought of this night, Jack, death, and the key to the city. His brother's death reminds him of how invincible they thought they were. The darkness also hints toward something negative.

    I might listen to the songs, I wonder how much they have to do with the poem?

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  3. Allie DreadfulwaterSeptember 3, 2016 at 8:56 PM

    I thought of death, too, at first thinking it was around the time of the night in the car but then upon the last lines of the poem where he mentions that Jack lost touch with his brother it made me realize it is more of a current death of the brother. Author is pulling memories....linking to a foreshadow here from this night of death or pulling from a good memory to maybe use at funeral? If his brother did die, maybe it was in a car too...and why the memory comes back. Maybe, as you suggested, it has more to do with the lyrics and the songs mentioned.

    i wonder why the author mentioned that he liked Jack and the friend he was to his brother but didn't mind that they had lost touch.

    "Layla"- Derek and the Dominos- Lyrics
    http://www.metrolyrics.com/layla-lyrics-derek-and-the-dominos.html
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izfg7YU9VgE
    *love poem, forgiveness

    "Bell Bottom Blues"- Eric Clapton
    Lyrics
    https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tkgu2cksfdqnf46hlv2ksgqzmwi?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics

    "Key to the Highway"- Eric Clapton
    Lyrics
    https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tqn6kcjov4eferim6vdg6hthlc4?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics



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