Hats Off To Rita MacNeil

I wrote  this piece of poetry for Rita after seeing her perform at Blyth in 1994, and I mailed it to her at Big Pond, Nova Scotia.  That is all the address it took, just her name and Big Pond.  I received a  handsome letter back from  her, thanking me for my gift of beautiful words!  And she is just a beautiful woman.  Nova Scotia will never be the same now.  But her soul rides out along the black rock, and the Men Of The Deep will sing along with her spirit, for all eternity.

Hats Off To Rita MacNeil

Porch songs, and music from her soul

Poetry set to a mood of notes, combination of love and sadness,

And life itself, she sets us free.

Most beautiful lady!

You can  laugh at yourself and find the deep, ethereal joy

In the sunrise and the waves and the black rock on the shore.

The world’s judgment does not matter, for you have learned to overcome.

I love the candid way you kick off your shoes and make no apology

Your enjoyment is a tangible thing that reaches out to me

Touches my soul

And I let you, dear, sweet woman ~ your smile is sunshine in a sad, lost world

You are not afraid to rock and roll, what surprise!  What a difference you make!

I weep and I smile and I rejoice at what you give from your heart

My tears fall as I write; what could I give you in return?

I, in  my tiny way, write my thoughts, and would like to someday leave my mark

To share with somebody, somewhere, somehow I might help to lessen

Somebody’s pain.

I am awed by your simple, honest beauty, so genuinely given

So valuable and tremendous, and yet so unpretentious

It restores  my hope for mankind, that we may still learn to love, share, and forgive

And strive to be better.

I bow in gratitude to you and I will keep the melody

Part of the creative and loving artistry of music that you weave

Within my mind and my heart

To remind me of your humble soul that gives with no restraint

But with courage and with love. 

In memory of Rita MacNeil

With utter admiration, cailin raine