It’s a thin line between famous and infamous
yet curiously they mean
much the same thing.
I was famous firstly to my parents
with no effort on my part.
My first sister, Carol, was infamous
for having sat on my rubber ball
and refusing to give it back
duly recorded on a coloured slide by my father
and ritually recalled at family slideshows.
My second sister, Helen, was famous at birth
the birthing bed attended by a whole team
of Canadian doctors, midwives and nurses
there to witness the miracle of home birth
– did they ever know her name?
Was our generation less famous
for want of social media
did Myspace, Yahoo, Facebook and Twitter
produce more fame or infamy?
Never has human conflict been fought
by the many, on so many platforms
to achieve legacy for a few…
If we “Like” someone famous
is it a projection, saying more about us
than it does about the famous?
My claim to fame – to walk into a concert
with Vera Lynn on my arm,
embarrassingly dressed as a beefeater –
– someone thought that a good idea at the time
I came near to the famous
helping to prepare the first concert of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall”
– rumour had it a band member’s wife
was wearing a diamond necklace with T-shirt and jeans
but I wasn’t that near…
My mural of WB Yeats on a shop in Sligo
was famous – more than I
but it helped me find work
until a new shop owner painted over it –
fame rescinded
I would rather be famous to a select few
than infamous – which is famous in a bad way,
to a whole load of people
If you are famous to other people
for say -keeping to a strict routine
on your morning perambulations
but you are unaware of the fame
– does it still count?
Florence Nightingale is, to this day
famously, the Victorian founder
of nursing as we know it
but nobody who knew her
just as a person
is now left alive
– is history fame?
Fame cannot last past memories or histories
and infamy, though more garish,
is no more permanent…
© Andrew Wilson, 2024
Over at dVerse Poets Pub, lillian is hosting, OpenLinkNight where you may post a poem of your choice. This now was the product of my writing group in the shadow of the poem “Famous” by Naomi Shihab Nye…