~JEANNINE DOBBS~

I CONFESS, I WANTED TO BE JUNE

---

 

wanted to have Mama Carter
be my mama, wanted to sing
like the Carter girls

wanted to go down in the country
and western books
as the woman who saved
the man with the furrowed look
from the devil
and the drink
and the drugs
and San Quentin prison

poor, tone-deaf me
can't tell A sharp from B flat
wanted to hand him his guitar
wanted to watch as he strode on stage
to the roar of a thousand voices
of men who'd made the wrong choices

then he'd tip his head
towards me in the shadows
me in the wings
and say:
Come on out here, girl,
let's sing.
 

© by Jeannine Dobbs