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Chantilly Lace

by Nancy Ames

Recently I was visiting some old friends of mine
who live in the mountains, and we were sitting around
in the kitchen after lunch one fine summer afternoon
when their teenage daughter returned home after a drive
to town to visit some of her own friends.

She sat down at the table and reached for a cookie,
and she was looking so lovely and sweet that the grownups
were all sitting there smiling at her while she ate it.

Everyone was delighted to see her as always. But her
Dad and I are old friends, as I said, and I could tell that
he was starting to feel almost alarmed by his daughter's beauty.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, strong young men with
battering-rams were about to assault his castle.

Of course, she took no notice at all of our antique
reactions to things. She started singing that old song of the
Big Bopper's, "Chantilly Lace".

Then she stood up, sort of danced over to the fridge with
her ponytail swinging, opened the door and got out a bottle of
orange pop, exclaiming, "I just love that song! It's by the
Big Bopper! That is such a cool name! I really, really want to
go to one of his concerts some time - okay, Dad? Can I? Please?"

I saw that her Dad was having some trouble getting out the
word 'No', so I spoke into the awkward silence and, as gently as
I could, informed her of the Big Bopper's tragic death in an
airplane accident a long, long time ago.

She turned and stared at me in disbelief and then her
innocent blue eyes filled with tears.

09/13/2008

Author's Note: This is a little story about the lasting appeal and relevance of certain songs.

Posted on 09/13/2008
Copyright © 2024 Nancy Ames

Member Comments on this Poem
Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 09/14/08 at 10:35 PM

You subtlely connect parent/sibling relationship and nostalgic reflection of the music of another time.

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