Saturday, October 12, 2013

Grand Old Opry (2)


My dear friend Scott asked the webmaster to create a link here from Dollymania site which became live. I would just like to say thank you to anyone coming from that link and in expression of that thanks post an update to the prose. I think it is an improvement, but you are the judge.
If you haven’t been to the Dollymania site the link is here http://www.dollymania.net/ .It is well worth a visit. It is easy to forget just how much Dolly has contributed to the entertainment scene through her talent as a singer songwriter and also actress. Who can forget her portrayal of ‘Truvy’ in ‘Steel Magnolias’ with memorable lines such as “There's so much static electricity in this room, I pick up everything but boys and money.” She is a star in the truest sense of the word. Hope you enjoy the prose and if not apologies.

 
The Grand Old Opry

I could have gone anywhere, but I came here
To tread quietly on the Grand Old Opry boards
See curtains drawn on an empty, lifeless stage
The festoons thick with reverently clinging dust
Placed by a time that has long ago passed away
A lone chair centrestage looks out above the stalls
It draws me over so that I may sit; take in the scene
Remember in-situ the days I dreamed of all my life
And I see you all, dressed up in your best, to come here
Never so fine a congregation sat upon hallowed pews 
Sat in eager expectation, for the main act to arrive

The monochrome haze of the present slowly dissipates
To bring into view the colour of this glorious past
I see her in my mind; the country queen holds court
Her perfume on the air, curtains draw upon excellence
Petite over engineered physique stands proud in humility
Rhinestones dazzle; platinum hair shimmers in the footlights
"y’all gonna get sunburnt out there, ladies and gentlemen”
With her beautiful smile she fills the stage with honest joy
Heart big as a Tennessee mountain ridge and hummingbird pretty
Her audience applauds; she is at ease; no diva; just a woman
The songs come like a wind of revelation; take away pain

I see the Smoky Mountains, the streams; the pain and loss
But she weaves such hope and good deeds to rise into the lights
As her performance closes we know she loves every one of us
I admire you Dolly; you made it big by being modest and kind
A quiet gentleness of pure spirit that makes me close to you,
Even though I never knew you; for I journeyed from the future
Because lying here in the past so long gone by; was perfection
The most successful female country artists of all time; forever
Artificial on the outside but inside as real and as deep as it can get
A sweet songbird that never left her mountain home or folks
Dolly Rebecca Parton you came into my world bringing only joy