Love poem wins mtvU award
BU student weaves Lennon’s song titles into contest winner
Robyn Fialkow has loved both poetry and the Beatles for years, but it wasn’t until an invitation from mtvU that she transformed the latter into the former.
Fialkow (CAS’09) entered mtvU’s poetry contest, which asked students to submit “original, rock n’ roll inspired poetry,” in May. She constructed a love letter from John Lennon to Yoko Ono using only Beatles song titles. “I really liked the idea of love surviving after death,” she says, “especially the death of one of the greatest rock icons.”
Last week, mtvU announced that Fialkow’s poem, “From Me to You,” was selected as the contest winner. The poem will be published in Third Rail: An Anthology of Poetry of Rock N’ Roll (MTV Books) next spring.
“When I heard about the contest I was really excited, because this idea had been brewing in my mind for a long time,” Fialkow says. “Now, I have different expectations of myself — I want to achieve more.”
Fialkow created “From Me to You” — which mtvU says “delicately expresses the way the simplest of song lyrics can address emotions both deeply personal and powerfully universal” — after imagining a posthumous conversation between Lennon and Ono that dealt with his death, their son, and their relationship. “I wanted to get the point across that love can never truly be stopped, and that his feelings for her would never change,” she says. She then scoured the Beatles song catalog to determine which titles would best convey the message.
Having won the contest, Fialkow says it’s an honor to be included in an anthology that includes poets such as Allen Ginsberg and Rita Dove. “My parents are pretty proud, too,” she says.
Third Rail: An Anthology of Poetry of Rock N’ Roll will be published in April of 2007.
From Me to You
Dear Yoko,
Do you want to know a secret?
I was a fool on a hill till there was you. I was crippled inside.
It took a long, long, long time and now I’m so happy I found you.
Love, don’t ever change.
On this sleepless night, imagine yesterday, like dreamers do.
He thought that happiness was a warm gun.
Forgive me, my little flower princess.
I just had a ticket to ride. Let it be.
Here comes the sun, and golden slumbers fill my eyes.
I’ve got a feeling it won’t be long until the two of us come together
And live in strawberry fields forever.
Tell our beautiful boy, our darling boy, that I feel fine.
Oh Yoko, oh my love. One day at a time.
Remember, yes, I’m your angel.
All my loving across the universe,
John