Out of the Dust

“And I’m wondering what kind of a friend I am, / wanting my feet on that road to another place, / instead of Livie’s.”

Billie Jo’s best friend Livie Killian moves to California at the beginning of Billie Jo’s narrative, contributing to the lonely, isolated mood of Billie Jo’s daily life. Ironically, Billie Jo is too emotional to say anything meaningful to her friend at their farewell. Billie Jo knows she should be happy that her friend gets to leave the dust and wind of the parched plains, but she also conveys strong envy. Indirectly, the reader learns that Billie Jo yearns to leave for a better place. Later, her reaction when Mad Dog goes to Amarillo to sing will parallel her feelings.

“How supremely / heaven / playing piano / can be.”

Billie Jo’s inner light and spirit break free when she plays piano for a crowd at the Palace Theater. Her music and the energy of the audience members feed off one another. Billie Jo communicates the sensory experience of playing to the reader through description of tones and tempo and the feeling of unity and warmth in the theater; she sums up the feeling she experiences with this last line of the poem “On Stage.”