Like Marilyn

In those old photographs, I see a teenager,
pale and lacking confidence, happy to allow
mother or sister-in-law to take over for a while,
united in womanhood, your blonde hair
curled around your face, like Marilyn’s.

I arrived too soon. The sparkle of the glamorous life
you hoped for faded into monochrome. You grew up
before your time – no more dancing on a Saturday night.
In a small room watching her on a black and white TV,
your smile flickered and flamed – just like Marilyn’s.

Kim M. Russell, 31st January 2019

Mum and Dad033 (2)

My response to Imaginary Garden with Real Toads Instructions for Living a Life: A Tribute to Poets of Our Time, also linked to dVerse Poets Pub Poetics: Poems to a Poet

Kerry reminds us that January 2019 is the month when the world lost the voice that will always be Mary Oliver. She says that the death of a poet, one of our time, always strikes a chill of fear into her heart and she asks why do we only really pay attention to a poet’s body of work once they have passed away?

Kerry would like us to think about who remains? Who are the poets – still living – who speak to us in a profound way? For this challenge, she would like us to share a quote from a contemporary poet’s work and write a poem as a tribute to his/her style, voice, themes, wisdom.

January is also the month in which my mother died, two years ago, so I have chosen Carol Ann Duffy to inspire me with her poem ‘Before You Were Mine’. https://genius.com/Carol-ann-duffy-before-you-were-mine-annotated

My quotation is: “That glamorous love lasts / where you sparkle and waltz and laugh before you were mine.”

30 thoughts on “Like Marilyn”

  3. Oh my aching heart… this is beautifully poignant, Kim! I became teary-eyed at; “I arrived too soon. The sparkle of the glamorous life you hoped for faded into monochrome. You grew up before your time – no more dancing on a Saturday night.”💝

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  10. Too often, we take for granted those we know, love, and respect. How do we find the strength to say words like these when they would be most appreciated?

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