Prince ... A Year After

I meant to post a tribute to Prince on the anniversary of his death. But completely forgot! So here goes, a couple weeks late. This is USA Today's tribute to Prince on 21 April 2017, exactly one year after his death. I especially like the graphic at the top showing his Love Symbol guitar with a black mourning band on it. And how it matches the photo of Prince holding that guitar, from his renowned Super Bowl performance in 2007. Can't believe that was ten years ago! Here's my elegy for Prince, which appeared in A Prince Tribute: ...only wanted one time to see you laughing, an anthology edited by Sarah Frances Moran (Yellow Chair Press, 2016). Rest in Purple Prince soared from Paisley Park in a little red Corvette, upward to magenta clouds, bathing in purple rain majestic, radio blasting Dr. Funkenstein slap-and-pop. Riding shotgun: love symbol axe with its Salvador Dalí mustachio. Heading to heaven to jam with Jimi, Janis, James Brown the Godfather of Soul, and Michael Jackson the King of Pop. His third eye staring straight into the liquid light-blaring orb of God. Prince of Purple finally with his Prince of Peace, a dazzling smile. —Vince Gotera, from A Prince Tribute (2016) In the poem, I tried to incorporate Prince's great faith as a Jehovah's Witness. And I also enjoyed all the J's in the heavenly musicians' names. The mention of the "third eye" is a tribute to his last music project, 3rdEyeGirl, a band Prince fronted, with bassist Ida Kristine Nielsen, guitarist Donna Grantis, and drummer Hannah Welton. A Prince Tribute had a really glorious front cover, in purple of course. A truly fitting celebration of Prince both visually and in the beautiful writing contained in the anthology. Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. To comment, look for a red line below that starts Posted by, then click once on the word comments in that line. If you don’t find the word “comments” in that line, then look for a blue link below that says Post a comment and click it once. Thanks! Ingat, everyone.  ヅ