Dolores Speaks

 (A lone voice whispers)

 

Press play before reading. Salute.

I always wondered

In those quiet moments spent on my own

When I was young

 

Alone in Limerick

 

How it would all

Eventually end

 

For all great things are so temporal

 

And my beloved family and

Friends

 

 Are so badly missed

Now

I’m reborn as something else

 

Just one of the many

Dearly departed

 

Like Julius Caesar and Cleopatra

 

We all once lovingly sang together in unison

In our own divine

Red Church

 

In the Spire of St. Mary's Cathedral

 

A place I retreated to

Filled with lingering hopes and deep dreams

When everything just hurt

 

But in the end

 

Like ridiculous childish thoughts

Golden red rose promises and

All great things

 

They now

Lay in memory-filled ruins

In here

The Great In-Between

 

Where the grey zombies

Sometimes surround and analyze me

In these dark corners

 

As they once again

Live amongst us 

 

The heartbroken mourners

 

Now just like in

The Quiet Man

 

Those broken old promises and thoughts

Are slowly been blown away

Softly

 

But I still stand strong like

A reborn Maureen O'Hara

 

Entangled forever

Emotionally

 

Within this southern

Wind-blown dirt

 

You were so beautiful

My old love

But now you dance

Alone

 

In that

Ralph Lauren

White polo tee-shirt

 

I once bought

 

I was your

Raven-haired queen

And you my king

 

But now

I'm just another lost soul

Filled with wild animal instincts

 

Stuck in a black cloudless

Prison

 

A kangaroo court

Which finally tore us

Apart

 

No matter

What I hear

Or feel in here

 

Wherever I fall short

 

No matter how hard those memories

Of my old life

 Hurts

 

No matter how they all  cut so deep

Like a butchers sharp

Devoted knife

 

I will always rise

 

Because I know

I was born under the protection of

The Lady of the Seven Dolours

 

To always survive even in this

The afterlife

 

I know I can’t be with you all

And it's not my imagination

 

Or anything else that calls

Or even me

 

Playing new games

 

In here

From the Great In-Between

Where I now live on

Unseen

 

But just a kind soul

Who tried to be a friend

 

To many strangers

 

I hope you all have a wonderful life and shine so bright

With as many names

As you all own

 

As my time before you

Quickly ticks out

 

But I promise 

I'll take all those stage full of playful memories

We once shared

And keep them safely tucked away

 

Now I’m on my last journey

Home

 

You were once all

My sparkling treasures in the dirt

And the darkness

 

When old childhood memories returned and

Everything

Just hurt

 

I'll see you all so soon

Because I’ll always wait by the

Holy River

 

Of which everyone speaks

 

Where I know the Lord

 

Will bless

Anoint and forgive us

 

For all those moments we sinned

Whenever we were weak

 

My song may have ended

But I can on;y pray my memories still linger on

 

I was on born on the sixth

Of September 1971 

In Ballybricken

 

County Limerick in Ireland

 

It’s where I’ll return

If I can

 

Home to The Emerald Isle

Where I was once laid to rest

 

I still love you all

And it’s because of that love

 

I return

For I still feel so blessed

 

To have this final chance to say

Goodbye

 

Even though

Deep down inside

My poor soul still cries

 

(C)

Copyright  JOHN DUFFY

Image shared under fair usage policy via Pinterest.

An old monologue for a theatre/film project which Covid stopped.

Logline:

What would the dearly departed say, if they got one last chance?

Dolores Mary Eileen O'Riordan was an Irish musician, singer and songwriter.

She was best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist for the alternative rock band Cranberries.

She, unfortunately, passed over in January 2018.

Would you watch a supernatural film with poetry as its dialogue?