One still on the planet, one not—
Parton and Joplin, two music icons
whose songs so many of us can
sing from memory—

though for two fine singers
born on the same day,
you couldn’t get such
different musical styles.

And how is it that Janis
was born three years before
Dolly? Each seems ageless,
larger than life—or death—
frozen in photos as young
women singing their hearts out:

—Take another little piece of my heart now, baby
—I will always love you
—Oh, Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz
—Pour myself a cup of ambition
—Try, try, try just a little bit harder

And you just know that one day
when Dolly takes to that great stage
in the hereafter, she’ll find Janis,
and they’ll sing up a ruckus so loud
we’ll hear ’em all the way down here—

…all I really know
is here you come again,
and here I go…