Gift Gerbera Daisies by Margaret Dubay Mikus Copyright 2014
First blog post in a while (more is on Facebook). Wow the summer is going by fast!
I am very moved by the loss of Robin Williams, remembering all the varied, pitch-perfect roles over the years and the tears-running-down-the-face laughing at his comic genius. But there is a cost to fame. Much is being said about mental illness and addiction, but what pushes someone over the edge? I know very dark places and I am grateful I made it through. Thank you to all who helped me at the perfect times, so I could weather life-storms.
This poem from my upcoming book, Thrown Again into the Frazzle Machine: Poems of Grace, Hope and Healing, came to mind to share today. Life in the public eye is especially hard for those who are sensitive souls. Although written with Robert Pattinson in the title I was thinking about all performers in the relentless public eye.
10/20/10
For Robert Pattinson
And the others
To be the perfect mirror
so that others see
what they most desire
is a special kind of hell.
To not be real,
anything your own,
celebrated but
not seen.
Invisible in your own skin,
when you step out
the image you created
precedes and masks you.
Who takes the trouble
to get to know you
in all quirky human complexity?
The more you say
“I am not a fictional character,”
the less you are believed,
an immense price to pay
for unexpected popularity,
ultimately unsought,
no matter the salary.
Margaret Dubay Mikus
© 2010
Flowers Catch April Sun by Margaret Dubay Mikus Copyright 2014