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Open Poetry #38
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Midnitesun
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0 posted 2006-07-03 06:59 PM



holy roller me,
wrap me up inside the sounds
of a green tambourine

dancing in the church aisles,
down by the railroad tracks
past the Nighthawk bar
where daddy had me singing...
not the blues, mind you,
but abba dabba said the monkey,
until loosened quarters rocked and rolled
down the old wellworn wooden bartop
and into my five finger splayed
five year old hands,
to line an empty pocket
for a rainy day

but then we both got
our royal butts beaten bad
by a momma who was hopping mad
when we left the bar's safety zone
and headed for our nearby home

and I remember those tambourines,
holy rollers rocking and rolling me
down the narrow aisle,
singing and dancing carefree,
reveling in god's glories,
then out the door
and into the sunshine,
tambourines in hand
in a never never land
where the Nighthawk
was our refuge
and everybody smiled
and shouted

Hallelujah!
Amen!

and it didn't matter then
what rainbow color I was
or even if
I believed,
for I was always squeezed in welcome
by those holy rollers,
and offered a green tambourine.

© Copyright 2006 Kathleen Kacy Stafford - All Rights Reserved
serenity blaze
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1 posted 2006-07-03 07:16 PM


smiling wide here...

I believe they call that making a "joyous noise"...

awesome, you!

Midnitesun
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2 posted 2006-07-03 07:56 PM


lol, yep
and I was pretty noisey in those days
thanks for readin, sista ser
now here's your green tambourine
PS the A team is havin fun with this

The Lady
Member Rara Avis
since 2005-12-26
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The Southwest
3 posted 2006-07-03 11:41 PM



Let's hear it for the holy rollers that color our lives and let's hear if for daddies who teach us to sing about monkeys and chimps and abba dabba honeymoons! Heck, let's hear it for hopping mad mommas too!


Kacy, you've written my memories here. You're wonderful!

Midnitesun
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4 posted 2006-07-03 11:55 PM


Grinning at your reply Lady. Are we parallel souls and didn't know it?
Krawdad
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Posts 2597

5 posted 2006-07-04 12:04 PM


Been a long time since I heard mention of the holly rollers.
There was a congregation in my grandparents small town, back in the fifties, next to their own church.  The "standing joke" was that the bus parked next to their chapel was for the minister to pick up his followers on Sunday morning, else they wouldn't show up.  
Wish now I had snuck into one of their services.
Thanks, Kacy.

Midnitesun
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6 posted 2006-07-04 12:06 PM


Aba Daba Honeymoon

some of the lyrics:

"Aba, daba, daba, daba, daba, daba, dab,"
Said the Chimpie to the Monk,
"Baba, daba, daba, daba, daba, daba, dab,"
Said the Monkey to the Chimp.
All night long they'd chatter away,
All day long there were happy and gay,
Swinging and singing in their hunky-tonkey way.
"Aba, daba, daba, daba, daba, daba, dab,"
Means "Monk, I love but you."
"Baba, daba, dab," in monkey talk
Means "Chimp, I love you, too."
Then the big baboon one night in June,
He married them and very soon,
They went upon their aba, daba honeymoon.

(this was written in 1914, Fields and Donovon, and became a well known ditty after an early 50's movie)

Midnitesun
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7 posted 2006-07-04 12:07 PM


KRAWDAD!!!!
where ya been? i've been about ready to send out a search party!

latearrival
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Florida
8 posted 2006-07-04 12:10 PM


Kacy, I absolutely Love This....
Krawdad
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9 posted 2006-07-04 12:11 PM


Hi Kacy!
Gone shy, I guess!
Been sneaking in here from time to time to read your stuff.

Midnitesun
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10 posted 2006-07-04 12:16 PM


aw, c'mere for your hug
you have been missed, seriously
I am so happy to see you here

kayjay
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since 2002-06-24
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Oregon
11 posted 2006-07-04 09:35 AM


Always a great thing to read your thoughts, Kacy!  This is marvelous.  Ken

Through rubble and trouble and dark of night
The yawn of a dawn will hasten the light

Interloper
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Member Rara Avis
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Deep in the heart
12 posted 2006-07-04 10:37 AM


Said the monkey to the chimp, "Hallelujah!"

Fool, said my Muse to me, look in thy heart and write.

Marge Tindal
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Florida's Foreverly Shores
13 posted 2006-07-04 01:38 PM


Kacy~
Talk about shaking some embers of remember ... that song is one that I now have fun teaching to Delaney and Landry~

Have a happy~

*Huglets*
~*Marge*~

~*The sound of a kiss is not as strong as that of a cannon, but it's echo endures much longer*~
Email -       noles1@totcon.com     

froggy
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since 2003-06-23
Posts 1893
Michigan
14 posted 2006-07-04 03:37 PM


Great read Kacy.

:-)

Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things,
man will not himself find peace."

Albert Schweitzer,
Nobel Peace Prize Wi

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