"Remember" and "Biography in Pink": Two Poems

Remember
In Memory of Mary Weiss

Once, years ago,
I stayed up all night
watching Shangri-Las videos,
and did my best to remember
who I was back then—
the heartbreaks, loneliness,
silent anxiety, drama.
But I didn’t really need
to think—it was all there,
in your face—the tenderness,
innocence, shock, resilience.
Your voice was another matter.
It reached into the future,
where immense vulnerability
can coexist with
“don’t even think
about messing with me.”
Young girl and old soul,
you were the hippest
girl group angel,
inspiration for generations
of singers, tear-infused
chaser for Amy’s whiskey.
Yours was the voice that still
ignites the electric shock
that quivers through my body
when I hear it—
and I remember.

Biography in Pink

A lone rain lily rises from the earth,
resplendent in its rosy nonchalance.
A breeze blows through, propelling it to dance
a brief ballet. Not long after its birth,
it will shrivel and its slender stem will bend
to merge with fallen leaves and fertile loam.
Returning to its tiny bulbous home,
its frail life comes to a sudden end.
But there will be more rain to coax new flowers
to burst into the light in pink perfection—
their petals like a fairy’s rare collection—
although their lives are numbered in mere hours.
Each life, though novel, beautiful and fragile,
must bow to nature’s own capricious schedule.

Diane Elayne Dees is the author of the chapbooks, Coronary Truth (Kelsay Books), The Last Time I Saw You (Finishing Line Press), The Wild Parrots of Marigny (Querencia Press), and I Can't Recall Exactly When I Died (Kelsay Books). She is also the author of four Origami Poems Project microchaps, and her poetry, short fiction and creative nonfiction have been published in many journals and anthologies. Diane, who lives in Covington, Louisiana, also publishes Women Who Serve, a blog that delivers news and commentary on women’s professional tennis throughout the world. Her author blog is Diane Elayne Dees: Poet and Writer-at-Large.