(The “You Are The Star” mural at Hollywood and Wilcox, Hollywood, CA. USA –
painted by Thomas Suriya photo: flickr)
The Mural’s Secrets
by Ron Olsen
If you look deeply enough
Far Inside
With courage, daring and flare
Beyond the troubles of everyday life
The issues of mundane care
There you will see
Looking back at you
Dietrich, Monroe and Gable
Issuing the simple demand
“Carry on if you can
Join us if you are able”
“Would you act?
Would you act?
Would you dare to join us and act?”
“Have you the courage for it?
To bare your soul and act?
Have you the magic to show your true self
Will you join us and seal the pact?”
As soon as they appeared
They drifted away
Fading to black upstage right
Leaving me there
Forlorn and bereft
Confused and alone in the night
And then from the darkness a voice in my ear
So close that it gave me a fright
“I’m neither your daughter
Your sister
Or dad
I’m neither your mother, too”
“I’m the essence of all
That drives the stage
Brave Ulysses
And William’s brew”
From downstage center
The little tramp appeared
Looking humble in all his might
Warning me time was ticking away
That my power would soon take flight
“Join us if you dare” he taunted me
“If you have the courage and peak
Cast the one that you are aside
And become the other you seek”
“If you can’t do that
Then go away
You’ll not join us here on the wall
Just go away and remember the day
When you dreamed of having it all”
© 2015 Ron Olsen – all rights reserved
Ron Olsen is an LA-based retired journalist who writes essays and an occasional poem. More of his poetry can be found here.
