Friday, June 30, 2023

Friday, June 30, 2023: Poetic Tribute to Tina Turner by Pam Ward, Emma Lee, and Lynne Bronstein





Ode to Tina Turner’s Sole 


If I could pick one shoe

any shoe in the world I could be

I’d pick the black shiny pump

holding Tina Turner’s leg

A sturdy one that might start off

slow to a song, a mild tap, tap, tap

A slithering glide across a stage

A shoe holding golden toes

And heart attack sculpted legs

Moving as fast as those

hot bones could go

A shoe that kicks doors

Stomping quick under rolling hips

Dancing as if life depended on it

Dancing like I ain’t got no sense

Dancing like love or any other mother

Had nothing to do with it

Stirring up kneecaps

Stirring up fuel under a sparkling dress

Turning the world into a wet sloppy mess

Running across freeways

Rolling across rivers

Leaping with just a dollar to our name

Smiling at red lights daring us to stop.

If I could pick one pair. Only one.

I’d pick the one holding Tina’s legs

Strong, ready to bow, jump or kick.

Dancing our heart out, no matter what.


© 2023 Pam Ward




What's Love?


(i.m. Tina Turner 1939 - 2023)


Not escaping from a motel room

with thirty-six cents and a luggage

of injuries, soul exhausted.

It starts with a toe tap, a beat,

waiting to build the courage

to fall again, to soar again.

A melody you desire to sense

vibrating throat-deep, teasing

a mouth open, vocal cords

warmed, sonorously filling

a studio, a stadium, hearts.


© 2023 Emma Lee






Tina Talk to Me


Now that she’s left us

For a higher love,

I look upward and ask her:

Tina, give us your strength.

Tina, put in a good word for us.

Tina, teach us how to fight.

Tina, give us your bravery.

Did you see before you left? We’re facing

Some of the worst dunderheads

Trying to stifle us. Passing laws

And banning books. Reaching out

To control our bodies.

Tina, please give us

Your energy. Your hope.

And Tina calls down

Girl, by yourself, you learn to fight.

Don’t tell me you can’t.

I had 35 cents and a wrap around my head

And I ran away.

Sometimes you just gotta go.

Your life is not the things you own.

You own your life

And you save that first.


© 2023 Lynne Bronstein

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