Shirley Temple has died.
She had an effect on the world,
bigger than I realized.
More below the fold.
Kalliope
Means "beautiful voice" from Greek καλλος (kallos) "beauty" and οψ (ops) "voice". In Greek mythology she was a goddess of epic poetry and eloquence, one of the nine Muses.
Join us every Tuesday night for drinks at the Daily Kos community political poetry club
Your own poetry is always welcome in the comments
Bongos, berets & turtle neck sweaters optional
The keypad is mightier than the sword
I just read the article that came on my screen
when I turned on my computer,
at msn.com
I read that as an adult,
she worked for Republican Presidents,
such as the elder George Bush,
as ambassador to Czechoslovakia,
just as the Iron Curtain was collapsing.
But as a child,
she was simply
a truly effective entertainer;
when she set out
to entertain her audience,
they
got
entertained!
She did her job,
so very well.
And she was doing her job
at a point in America's journey
that made her look like a very bright light,
during very dark days.
That seemed like a big help,
to some.
Some,
such as
Franklin Delano Roosevelt:
"When the spirit of the people
is lower
than at any other time
during this Depression,
it is a splendid thing
that for just 15 cents,
an American can go to a movie
and look at the smiling face
of a baby
and forget his troubles,"
"As long as our country has Shirley Temple,
we will be all right."
I think that's pretty good poetry,
after I gave it the line breaks,
as I like to do.
Other comments,
on the contribution
of Shirley Temple:
Actor Martin Landau said when the two were honored at the Academy Awards in 1998:
"She is a legacy
of a different time
in motion pictures.
She caught the imagination
of the entire country,
in a way that no one had before,"
The late Roddy McDowall, a fellow child star and friend, once said:
"She's indelible
in the history of America,
because
she appeared at a time of great social need,
and people took her
to their hearts,"
I wish folks then,
including FDR,
had taken a closer look
at that wonderful oil
flowing out of west Texas,
and the excessive plowing
that led to the dust bowl,
I wish they had realized
that America cannot feed
unlimited numbers of people,
just because the oil companies
want to sell diesel and gasoline,
and the farmers want to see how much they can produce,
I wish they had seen,
back then,
the terrible disaster
of overpopulation of America,
and the end of oil,
the end of diesel tractors,
I wish they had seen that.
I wish they had asked themselves.
"How long can we keep doing things
this way,
how many years will the diesel fuel last?"
But they didn't.
They simply didn't see the famines coming,
the possible famines,
from failing to plan ahead.
They just didn't see it.
But they saw Shirley Temple,
they saw her smile,
they saw the dimples on her cheeks,
and they smiled,
and they felt better.
Thanks for reading.
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