The Butterfly Hours Memoir Project: CONCERT

For 2019 I'm running a year-long series on my blog in which I share my responses to the writing assignment prompts found in THE BUTTERLY HOURS by Patty Dann.

I welcome you to join me, if you like! I've divided the prompts by month, and the plan is to respond to 3 (or so) a week. For some of these I may write poems, for others prose. The important thing is to mine my memory. Who knows where this exploration will lead?

In January I wrote about: apron, bar, basketball, bed, bicycle, birthday, boat, broom, button, cake, car.

Here are February's prompts: chair, chlorine, church, concert, cookbook, couch, dancing, desk, dessert, dining room table, diploma.

CONCERT

The image I remember,
though my poster
was in color (purple!).

When I was in 9^th grade, I was in love with Prince. And I wasn't alone – my then-best friend Michelle shared my passion. We listened to his music nonstop, and we had poster of him in our bedrooms. Mine was on the back of my door, carefully secured with tape on the back of the poster, so as not to mess it up. Prince liked purple –so did I! Prince was different – so was I! He was a great early teen celebrity crush, because yes, he was a man, but he was small and non-threatening. I wasn't ready for anything more. So, when his tour brought him to Birmingham, Michelle and I begged to go. By some miracle, my mom said YES – and she would be our chaperone. The concert was held at Boutwell Auditorium. We had seats on the floor, and it was LOUD. While we swayed and sang along to the songs, my mom sat straight-backed, her brow furrowed and lips a thin line. And then when the scent of marijuana drifted our way, my mom crumpled into her chair, head in hands. Later she told me it gave her an instant headache. I'm surprised she hung in there and didn't whisk us out of there right then. She did so much to make me happy! Midway through the concert when Michelle and I weaved our way through all the throbbing bodies to get to the bathroom, strange boys turned faceless by the dark auditorium grabbed at us. The concert wasn't as much fun after that. I don't remember attending another concert for a long time. Eventually the Prince poster came off my door. Michelle and I drifted apart. But my love of Prince's music remains.