The Day Lady Died

(2) Sea Level

There are two minor hurdles for the reader of this poem to overcome. The first is the abundance of brands and cultural references from the 1950s. Google can probably help you with that one. Or you can just read our "Line-by-Line" summary. The second minor challenge is that "The Day Lady Died" doesn't really sound like poetry. This could throw you off your guard. But there's no hidden dimension here. It's just a guy talking about how he found out about the death of Billie Holiday. The poem is deliberately one-dimensional.