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
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.”
writing in north norfolk 
Oh wow, great poem Kim!
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Thank you!
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I love this one, I see it’s an older one that I have not read, and how you made it complex with the imagery of loss…
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It’s one of my favourites too! During NaPoWriMo this year I wrote a poem based on a line from one of her poems. She is inspirational.
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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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Thank you, Sanaa! 🙂 As I said to Laura, it was too late for me to read this to my mum. I think she would have liked it too.
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Moved by this analogous Marilyn – bitter sweet & succinct as Duffy
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Thanks Laura. It was too late to read this one to my mum, but I read her a previous response to Duffy when she was in the home with dementia. I think she got it.
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Beautiful Kim, honest in its tribute, and bittersweet in its sense of loss.
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Thank you very much, Rob.
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Poignant tribute! 💖
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Thank you, Tricia!
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Very moving and poignant.
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Thank you, Lucy.
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Beautiful tribute to all three women: Marilyn, your mum and Carol Ann Duffy! Is that a photo of your mum?
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Thanks so much, Ingrid. yes, that’s my mum. Her name was Maureen.
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On her wedding day I presume? A lovely photo 😊
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She was already pregnant with me. 🙂
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A fan of Mary Oliver and thinking of all the women living in black and white worlds free but also trapped by societal standards and expectations. I enjoyed your piece very much.
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Thank you!
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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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An exquisite journey back in time … many thanks, Kim. This is incredibly touching.
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Thanks so much.
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Can feel the loss in this piece, Kim. This line, for some reasons, feels so heavy and profound: I arrived too soon.
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She was only eighteen when she married my dad, and I was born six months later.
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oh. ❤ ❤ ❤
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You have communicated a deep sadness. The contradictory element of emotive poetry is the joy of empathetic sharing. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you for reading and commenting.
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So much emotion, melancholy to me, in this poem. I adore Mary Oliver.
I can imagine you reading poetry aloud to your mum….:)
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Not just poetry, Lill, she like a good story too. 🙂
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