To a Passion Dying Young

Mirikitani’s “To a Passion Dying Young”

One time the spotlight hit my face;

On stage I thought I’d found my place.

Man and boy stood cheering; I

Stared at the crowd, too grieved to cry.

Today, no audience will come

To the place I once called home.

On my face, those lights went down

After wearing cap and gown.

Foolish girl, to dream away

Of glorious fame that does not stay.

In countless bouquets after shows

Stardom withers with the rose.

Lines forgotten, scripts now shut

On scenes left at eternal cut;

Silence sounds like empty cheers.

Reality rings in the ears.

Now I’ll never need to bout

With roles that choke ambition out.

From fear of failed renown I ran,

Name dead in the mind of man.

The set is struck, the showtunes fade,

Yet I relive each part I played

When the only way was up,

Drinking from a half-full cup.

Dear Passion, that once crowned my head,

You’re a passion left for dead.

An actress falls just as her curls

Once spotlights shine on other girls.

(For reference, Housman's "To an Athlete Dying Young")

The time you won your town the race

We chaired you through the market-place;

Man and boy stood cheering by,

And home we brought you shoulder-high.

Today, the road all runners come,

Shoulder-high we bring you home,

And set you at your threshold down,

Townsman of a stiller town.

Smart lad, to slip betimes away

From fields where glory does not stay,

And early though the laurel grows

It withers quicker than the rose.

Eyes the shady night has shut

Cannot see the record cut,

And silence sounds no worse than cheers

After earth has stopped the ears.

Now you will not swell the rout

Of lads that wore their honours out,

Runners whom renown outran

And the name died before the man.

So set, before its echoes fade,

The fleet foot on the sill of shade,

And hold to the low lintel up

The still-defended challenge-cup.

And round that early-laurelled head

Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,

And find unwithered on its curls

The garland briefer than a girl’s.