My shipmate and I,
a lean, lanky seventeen,
and a million other bell-bottom tars,
good-time charlies, and crew cut marines,
weekend leave in Hollywood.
First stop: Hollywood Canteen
to stand in line for an hour or so
to share cookies and punch
served by Danny Kaye and Bette Davis,
to ogle, gawk, and lust for the lovely
but untouchable starlets,
to laugh at the antics of Groucho Marx,
to tap our feet to Harry James,
fail to get the autograph of Ava Gardner,
shake hands with Gregory Peck
as we’re ushered out to make room
for another parade of homesick warriors
with no place else to go,
Walked empty streets of decorated homes,
rejected by series of No Vacancy hotels,
squeezed into overpriced bars,
crawled miles in search of place to sleep,
settled for an all-night movie
and dozed through a double feature,
returned to early morning streets
to sleep at last on the floor
of an overflowing church to dream
of home and tales we would tell
of Christmas in glamorous Hollywood.
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Ava Gardner...Bette Davis...Groucho Marx...What a treat to visit this poem!!
Lights-Camera-Action!!!
Embraced~Embrassé
Vickie
Axilea
stan
Hollywood is always overrated;-)
still, you can say you saw the stars;-)
Eileen
You bring back the good old days, the movies, the stars of Hollywood, before it went all wierd. Classic feel to these lines: cut, print, wrap. :) Well done.
(((HUGS))) and love, Karla.
And thank you (once more) for your service. :)
memories to share!! Thank you so much for posting this. I really enjoyed it. xOx Phyllis xOx ---- PS: Don't believe I ever posted my poems about about Hollywood movies in the old days. 'Been published here and there, so s o m e b o d y liked 'em. Certainly got a kick out of writing 'em. Thanks for remindin' me! Hope you'll think about keepin' an eye out for the posts. Have a wonderful holiday!! :) 'Pea' :)
"we’re ushered out to make room
for another parade of homesick warriors
with no place else to go,"
because this reminds us that while their is glamour in hollywood, the underlying truth here is that this was a transient moment - an escape - for some very young men charged with a very ominous task. Many of them, I would imagine, felt lonely and displaced. I also love:
"to sleep at last on the floor
of an overflowing church to dream
of home and tales we would tell"
I'm not sure why, but I connect the words "church" and "dream." This reminds me of an Emerson quote that went something like: "My favorite part of church is in the quiet stillness of the morning before any sermon has begun."
Myrna
thanks for taking us back...
John
You have a way of transporting us to the place and time of your choosing. Thank you for the trip. I wonder did you ever get to see the incredible Bob Hope or any others that entertained so many soldiers in so many wars across both space and time? May he live on in our hearts.
In memory of the life of times of those like yourself who gave all, Billy Ray Cyrus sang his touching song, "Some Gave All". There have been others who sang in honor of our valiant troops, but that one seemed like a personal tribute from the artist. I recommend it.
Oh yes, I forgot about the review...I love your style of writing Gene. Keep up the good work! --- Rockie