Beyond the Thunder Dome
by Michael Doyle

It took a day to really sink in
To catch my peace and reach Zen
A private dancer left the building
To rest in Heaven, if God be willing

Rock-n-roll has lost its acid queen
The hips that hollered a human being
The high voltage surge of pure energy
Love is everything to do with her legacy

A southern kitchen brewed her mystique
A bright light neighbor at her peak
Her musical treasure will keep on giving
As long as her memories keep living

I speak her name quietly to myself
Pulling her vinyl off my shelf
To play yet another one of her songs
Through the hours of all night long

For all my life, it seems she was on fire
With a will to live and rarely ever tire
A human expression of frayed limits of the scale
That became, in our age, a living folktale

Personifying the tenderness of a woman done wrong
She sang like a siren and taught love can be strong
A life lived with rivers deep and mountains high
The churning waters of eternity heave a silent sigh

My ear searches for a melodic growl splendid in mystery
From an iconic star who returns to the dust of history
That soul survivor taught her lessons to us all
She was no victim but an empress who found her call

Seldom has there lived such an example of excellence
Demonstrated on the stages of her life with relevance
A little something inside of every note of every tune
And though she lived long, she is gone far too soon

(c) May 25, 2023  Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved