My Ronnell Poem by Kim Barney

Story behind the poem:
On Thursday,21 June 2018, I attended a session of Poetry in the Park in a little town called Glenwood, Utah. The sponsor of this session was a poet who is well-known in that locality.

Those who attended took turns reciting or reading poems that they or others had written. Among the poems I shared was one I had written about the country singer Willie Nelson. (It's not on Poem Hunter yet, so don't bother looking for it.)

After I had shared the poem, I was informed that one of the other poets had a Willie Nelson STORY to tell. Her name is Ronnie. This is the story she told.

Years ago, she and her sister-in-law were in Jackson Hole, Wyoming at some establishment where there was dinner and dancing. Her sister-in-law was out on the dance floor having a good time but Ronnie was just sitting on the sidelines relaxing because she was recovering from skull surgery to remove a brain tumor. Her head was all shaved and bandaged.

A man sat down beside her and engaged her in conversation. He asked her all about her life, her family, and everything else. Then he said something like, "You probably think I look a little bit like Willie Nelson."Ronnie said, "No, you look EXACTLY like Willie Nelson! "

The man laughed and said that in fact he knew Willie very well, and that he even wrote a lot of songs for Willie. He then proceeded to share (and sing) snatches of several songs that he said he was working on, and asked Ronnie's opinion of the songs.

He asked her to dance, but she was still weak from the surgery and declined.

Finally he asked her what her name was. She said "It's really Ronnell, but everybody calls me Ronnie."

"Ronnell … I really like that name, " said the man. "I think I will write you a song."

A few weeks later, Ronnie received a cassette tape in the mail. (This was back before compact disks were invented.)
On the tape was a song (which Ronnie loved) , recorded by someone who sounded just like Willie Nelson. The title of the song was "My Ronnell".

…………………………………………………….

After Ronnie told her story, I asked her: "This guy that you talked to, did he also SOUND like Willie Nelson? " and she immediately responded, "Oh, yes! "
I told her, "Then it really was him. Anybody could look like him, but nobody could both look and sound like him except Willie himself! "

Willie, fess up! It really was you, wasn't it?
…………………………………………………….

written 22 June 2018
posted on Poem Hunter 23 June 2018

Deactivated when I discovered that PH had added that annoying soundtrack
This posting 3 November 2018