Please indulge my curious brain for May 2025’s Poem of the Month. I admit, it strays a bit from the usual subjects, and tends to want to go down some darker path, but again… perspective to realize the way things are, and then learn from them for the future seems to be the way we people learn how to survive. Just be sure you come back from that darker part of the forest… wiser and more fulfilled.

And you can and you will.

Whatever the question, love is always the answer.

…AND THE BAND PLAYED ON…

“Casey would waltz with the Strawberry Blonde,
And the band played on…
“He’d glide ‘cross the floor with the girl he adored,
And the band played on…”

A simple tune from my childhood
Entered my brain and become stuck there.
So, for nearly a month, or maybe more,
When I woke up it would be playing, I declare.

I wondered why, so decided to explore
More about the song so I could understand.
It seems it first appeared in 1895,
And was inspired by a German street band.

In 1941 a movie with Hollywood stars
Called “The Strawberry Blonde” was made;
A rom-com story set in the late 1890s.
(The boy gets the girl, and the music is played.)

“His brain was so loaded, it nearly exploded.
The poor girl would shake with alarm!”

In 1913, the Titanic set sail
For New York with the passengers enjoying the ride.
But near Newfoundland in Canada the ship fell apart
After an accident. With an iceberg it did collide.

The orchestra on board continued to play
As the ship broke apart and went down…
Lifeboats were filled with women and children,
‘And the band played on…’

A book by Randy Shilts, “And The Band Played On,”
Revealed in 1987 how AIDS was allowed to spread.
The most trusted institutions ignored or denied
The tragedy that left too many people dead.

“And the band played on…” So many meanings…
Some positive and some not! Isn’t that true?
Life does go on… The band plays on,
And how it goes depends upon you.

“He married the girl with the strawberry curl,
And the band played on!”

...And the Band Played On...