To A Little Rose On The "Big Island," Pt. 1 (2011-2012)

                 For my old friend, Rose Shillito--

                          Who moved to Hawai'i a year ago...

                              You're still one of the coolest I know.

I drove you there on the day

that you would leave on your way

to start a new life under a new sky.

I drove the length of this state

just so that I could see your face

one last time before we said good-bye.

I couldn’t help but wonder if you’d still be my fan

  when you landed on the “Big Island?”

I think I would rather lose the sky than

  to never see your smile again.

I wondered if it had shown in my face

how my soul had grown to ache,

now that the trip had come to and end?

Or had I somehow played it straight,

when the two of us hugged at the gate,

and I said good-bye to my best friend?

I couldn’t help but wonder if you’d still be my fan

  when you arrived on the “Big Island?”

I think I would rather lose the sky than

  to never greet your life-light again.

Some days I’m filled with doubt--

the way I am wondering now

if distance is something I cannot outgrow?

Because I’m reminded of your face,

from here all the way to Riverchase;

and I think of you every time I see a knock-out rose…

                                                  (remember those?)

I can’t help but wonder if you’re still my fan

  now that you’ve reached the “Big Island?”

I think I would rather lose the sky than

  to never greet you eye to eye again.

Reviews

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

Wow, your beautiful tribute brought me to tears W. The last two lines so moving, so profound. Please know that you will see your Little Rose again...it will certainly be.

[Wesley Dingler]

Thank you Annette. Naturally it wasn't my intentions to make you cry, but the first of these (there are two) is really sad, for the above reasons. I was sad about it. The thing is, there is a second Little Rose on the Big Island, written last year, and since I get better with every preactice, and since I've grown so much since she left in 2011, i feel the second is the better of them. Mostly because its rhyme is more technical, but in doing so, the rhyme tends to cushion some of the sadness that could otherwise take the poem somewhere I didn't want it to go.
This one was just me feeling heartbreak and unleashing it on paper. I have seen my friend rose since then, and The Second Little Rose On The Big Island finds a much more contentment with our distance.
It's my hope that, if the first big Island brings the reader down, then the second will bring them up. Maybe just to see how content I've become over this in the few years since.
I am pleased, though that it resonated so strongly with you.

Thank you, as always.


-wes

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

Yiu are very welcome. I will look for the second one.

[Wesley Dingler]

Okay, so I'm glad every one seems to dig Little Rose On The Big Island, but I realize now I didn't make them so easy to find. Hopefully, thanks to you, my lady, i have rectified this. I put them as Part one, which is this one, and Part Two, which is further down in this midnight Oil book.
I hope this helps everyone, as I think both are great, but in the years between i wrote as a more mature writer. As a result, i favor the second of them.
Plus, it's not as sad.

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

Thank you!