Ginger Rogers Poem

Viewpoint by
Rolland G. Smith (4/25/95)

Some thoughts today on Ginger Rogers. I met her a few weeks ago when she was honored by the Women's International Center here in San Diego.

I was impressed by her spirit, as she sat in her wheel chair and I wrote the following poem:

She lives now in a wheelchair
aged by grace and not despair
She once was light in song and dance
though now her steps are dream nuance
She knows she is different now,
yet mind remembers every bow,
with wishes and abandoned hope
tucked within mind envelop
that once held honors for the pair
when she danced with Fred Astair.
We all go through this change in time,
with added years above our prime.

I cannot leave you in this tale
for you to think her spirit frail.
Ginger's heart is young and agile
though her body seems now fragile.
Her inner light is in control,
patient waiting for bell to toll
the numbered days for time's release
when all the pain will finally cease.
It was a pleasure once again,
to honor her long lasting reign
as queen of dance and radiance.
I'll always be her audience.