Of Mary and Little Girls

   
   
I was born into picture shows    
named after Tammy and the Batchelor    
immersed in the "make-love-not-war"    
60's tie-dyed/anti-Vietnam movement.    
   
Too young to be a true flower child    
I was resolved to television shows    
and the music my mother loved --    
Tom Jones and Mary Tyler Moore.    
   
I remember her eschewing heels    
for flats and skirts for capris    
to revolutionize a deep south    
right along with Minneapolis.    
   
Me? Well, I got the switch across    
my back for tossing my crocheted    
beret into the wind on Mississippi    
highway I-55 S, just like Mary did.    
   
Wanting me to wear it to class.    
   
Honestly, what did my mother expect?    
   
Looking back, my lessons have been    
necesssary, small and big, but always    
with the hope of bettering a future    
even in these current times of doubt.    
   
Those 70's dreams of making it alone    
led to the city and my first apartment    
in the 80's,  and love all around me    
from family, friends, and neighbors.    
   
40 years later and I can say    
I made it on my own; I'm here    
but, wonder if I would've believed    
I could watching only June Cleaver.    
   
We never really know the full impact    
one show or personality has upon us    
or a smile that exudes happiness    
to become the dream of little girls.    
   
And another day, just like Mary now    
I'll have finally made it [home] afterall.    
   
~    
   
First Place winner - Mary Tyler Moore Dedication Competition
 
Special thank you to Johnny Blaze for critiquing.