A Song can speak both for
And
To you
Alice Blue Gown for my mother
Or better yet
Some version
Of the song
Written for—she who became
our Marilyn
Goodbye Alice Mae
“Though I never knew you at all”
They looked alike
Two women full of life
And beauty
Alice two years younger
both had the grace
To hold themselves
While those around them crawled.
Two beauties,
Emerging from the Great Depression
Two beauties
Carrying
An air of sadness
For a life as yet and ever
Unfulfilled.
My mother was an actress,
deserting her talent
To become a Mom.
Norma Jean was an actress
Embracing her talent
Forfeiting motherhood
For fame.
I cannot say that either one was happy
Or either one was right.
Two sides of one sad coin
Neither found their balance.
But we can love them
And remember them
And honour them
Two
Candles In The Wind.
Acknowledgment of (Candle in The Wind
Elton John and Bernie Taupin 1973)
Melissa Miles was born in the U.S. but has lived most of her life as a resident of New Zealand. Her creative education and practice included graduating from Dell’arte in CA, many years as an actor, and ultimately as a filmmaker. She has an honours MFA from Canterbury University. She has always written short stories. She lives in an old cottage overlooking the sea with her partner and a menagerie of animals great and small.
