Miss Lily Jane, the Iridescent
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I recently saw the movie "Children on Their Birthdays," an older Sundance type movie starring the young Tania Raymonde as Miss Bobbit. Her character so impressed me, I immediately thought, she is iridescent! (I believe in the short story by Truman Capote, this character dies in a bus crash just as her bus has taken off to Hollywood, where she had hoped to fulfill her dreams) In the film, she does not die! And that's Hollywood for ya!
When Miss Lily Jane Bobbit arrived in that Alabama town,
jaws dropped; all eyes were riveted on her.
The ordinary street on which she lived would be no longer common,
for Lily Jane now graced it with her presence.
Not everybody liked this sassy lass.
The girls in town were jealous and some folks were bemused
by this lovely and precocious child with long, dark silken hair
who, fashionably attired and immaculately groomed,
walked and talked like some sophisticate!
Ever the lady and the epitome of southern charm,
Lily Jane was often mocked behind her back.
Due to her solemn demeanor and unusual directness,
she seemed starkly out of place in that small backwater town.
Yet not a soul who met her would remain unaffected in some way
by this woman who inhabited a young girl’s form.
Wise beyond her years and blessed with intuition,
she had a moral compass the bigots were unaccustomed to.
She would not back down to the bullies who would shrink
when reproached by Lily Jane for bad behavior.
Defender of the downtrodden, she shone with the righteousness
of one who sees no color; she was just!
And in her eyes, everyone was equal beneath the skin.
Both tenderness and mercy she extended to the meek.
After all of this, there was more. Miss Bobbit had a dream!
In the quiet hours of her afternoons, she’d go to her back yard,
where neighbor boys might spy on her from behind the fence.
In such moments, her dream unfolding could be observed
as Lily Jane lithely moved her slender body -
swaying, bending, and pirouetting across the grass.
She dreamed one day to go to Hollywood, but not just for dance.
Another talent glittered in that girl.
Lily Jane could sing, and she performed one night
before her townspeople in a talent show for the community.
When she started singing, everyone grew silent.
She sang of dreams and of never giving up on what you want.
With her beauty and her angel voice, she exuded iridescence.
Mesmerized, not one person could deny that if anyone could do it,
Lily Jane would reach her highest star.
I now conclude my summary of this woman child,
a character of fiction, Miss Lily Jane Bobbit,
who was brought to life by the marvelous imagination
of a master storyteller named Capote.
I’ve met many people in my lifetime,
some who exhibited one or more of Lily’s strong qualities.
Since truth, they say, is stranger than fiction, I like to think
there exist other people peculiar in their goodness,
lighting up our world as did Lily Jane, the iridescent.
*See "about poem"
Copyright © Andrea Dietrich | Year Posted 2011
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