We spent the summer of '99 waiting for the sky to break.
The old seer had promised us a king—
not of crowns or gold, but of sheer terror,
dropping from the heavy heat of July.
People pulled what they needed from the ink.
Some swore it was the third beast waking up,
a fundamentalist storm ready to swallow the map,
while others just saw the familiar rot of politics
finally bursting into a global fire.
Either way, the dread sold a lot of paperbacks.
The prophecy became a ghost in the movie theaters,
a blockbuster specter we could safely watch
while pretending the end of the world was just entertainment.
The world didn't end, but the earth keeps shaking.
With every new war on the evening news,
every disaster that leaves a city in the dark,
somebody always dusts off the quatrains again.
We tell ourselves it's just a myth,
until the horizon bruises,
and we catch ourselves looking up.
Where have I seen you before?
Did you catch me smiling through modes of a dream?
Why does your face stay in my mind?
Polarized behind closed eyelids at night.
Leaving its fading iridescence to desire.
And suddenly the flame is blown out.
By the placid warm breath of a new dawn.
Left with silence and memories to rend.
Until you adorn the theaters of my mind again.
Watched a first-run movie
From the comfort of my couch,
An experience to which
So many folks could likely vouch.
You can’t beat the convenience
And the snacks my kitchen holds,
Plus the fact that I can pause things,
Even as the plot unfolds.
There’s no outerwear to deal with
And no bus or cab or train
And it doesn’t matter if, outside,
There’s cold or snow or rain.
Yet I kind of miss the theaters
Crammed with fellow movie buffs,
Though, at times, your seatmates seemed like
Slobs or boors or lowlife scruffs.
Yes, I know I can return to
Those few theaters that exist,
But when Netflix has a current film,
It’s too hard to resist.
Living in New York, I see
A lot of Broadway shows
And most of them have stars on stage
That everybody knows.
Yet often in the lesser roles
Are actors out to make
The audience acknowledge them –
To earn that hoped-for break.
In local theaters, all the cast
Performs from that same place,
While dreaming that the world will know
Their name or voice or face.
And thanks to that, they try their best
And give it all they’ve got,
Providing all who watch them
With a show they’ll like a lot.
However, the money world sometimes may wish to mend
their let say somehow a kind of flowers adorning the
fanciful -
the school at a point would almost dramatise love or
kiss something.
It was said that one corner there is Walmart and cheer
and also towers and theaters and radio stations.
It was said that no mile knew to an extend how for
instance even dragon itself shines?.
I see you over there
Staring at the stage like its Broadway
I know you're watching her
This beautiful, graceful, flexible dancer fly across the stage
I know you like her
And it hurts me
Now, as I see you looking at me from across the room
I feel my heart stop
My stomach hurt
And the thought comes to my brain
Why do you talk to all my friends but not me
Why don't we talk
I finally force myself to make eye contact
Nope I cant do it
But I feel my body float over there anyways
I feel myself come up behind you
I decide to make a joke
You laugh
The next thing I know you're pulling me away from the group
You grab my arm but all I feel is the pounding of my heart
You show me your new shoes that you're so proud of
The we just talk
Talk
Talk
Talk
You're gone
The spot on my arm is still warm
You're talking to her
oh but i know, sir
i know that this is what you want
what you want to see
oh but i understand, sir
me, crumbled on the ground,
fighting for a life you don't value
it gives you a nice rush
doesn't it?
oh i see you, sir
all of you
crowded in movie theaters to see me shatter on the silver screen
reading the magazines with my mugshot in the grocery line
i know, i understand, i see
i wish you would do the same for me
sir,
take a look
past the blood and bruise
see the love
the joy
the rush you will break me apart just to find
but before you shatter me
is my wholeness not a story worth telling?
All of our songs and stories
are written to hold the shadows at bay
but each evening long dark arms
unrelentingly slink across the land
ever so slowly and inevitably
they blossom out of the receding light
Their arrivals are foretold
prophets penned of their ashen fingertips
that cast our fleeting moments into dusk
our theaters of light to shade
and our pain and sorrows to silence
A loud clamoring presents itself
shouts and screams fill the air thickly
louder and louder it grows
until the clamoring yields
to a crescendo of cries and prayers unanswered
they slam up against the encroaching shadows
as though to ward off their inevitable arrival
A fool's errand
For the night alone bears silent witness
and scribes solemn and eternal testament
to the beauty of all ephemeral things
"Alas, such endings must come
for you see all things do perish
and all things inexorably decay"
And in just this way we arrive
to write our songs and stories
filled with beautiful new beginnings
of art and love and hope and joy
pages and pages hence
that hold the shadows at bay
Corona, is a vibrant city located in the heart of Riverside County.
Home to numerous parks and trails,Corona provides plenty of opportunities for outdoor recreation such as hiking,biking and picnicking.The city also has many cultural attractions including world-class museums, galleries and historic sites.There are great shopping and dining opportunities along with entertainment venues like movie theaters,bowling alleys and live music clubs. Whether you're looking for a peaceful retreat or an exciting night out,
Corona has something for everyone!
First taste of life.
Pointless to say.
Appealed to the eye.
Luring me astray.
Although bitter.
Still the sweetest bite.
Ephemeral.
A moment in time.
Eternal recall.
In the theaters of my mind.
I used to love to shop the mall
And check out every store.
At Yankee games, I’d track each ball
And carefully keep score.
I used to watch new movies when,
In theaters, they first aired.
On Broadway, I’d catch shows and then,
Opinions were compared.
I used to visit countries where
I’d wander through the streets
And with my husband, we would share
Some European treats.
I used to think those times would last,
But now, alas, they’re in the past.
"If truth is stranger than fiction, you need to take a stroll inside my dreams!"- by me
Weave me a story; weave me a tale.
Whole histories I need not hear.
But juicy tidbits I love well.
You can whisper them in my ear.
Books are a joy I love to read.
Weave me a story; weave me a tale.
Non-fiction or science – no need!
On the swell of romance I’ll sail.
Give me drama. Spare no detail -
good movies to both hear and see.
Weave me a story; weave me a tale.
At theaters I love to be.
I fall to sleep and my mind weaves
thrilling things. It never grows stale
what imagination conceives!
Weave me a story; weave me a tale.
April 23, 2023
For Writing Challenge - 'W' Words - Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Constance La France
Small, cut in half by Route Sixty-Six,
with farms and ranches scattered around.
Theaters, cafes, motels, your picks
Saturdays, everyone came to town.
What fun walking down crowded Main Street.
giving a farm boy a furtive glance.
Then movies, popcorn, something sweet
to watch Fred and Ginger glide and dance.
The tranquil aura of peacefulness,
of hometown, friends, and a picture show.
We didn't think of days that would pass
and our small town we would soon outgrow.
One day, we all left to find our dreams,
farms dried up with recurring drought.
Town forgotten in I-Forty's schemes,
the town withers within and without.
Our last reunion, old times we share,
sunshine, laughter, tears we can still find
in boarded stores, steets beyond repair
in our small hometown we left behind.
So hard to really know what to believe
on news presented to us every day;
as if our world's divided into two
opposing groups interpreting each fact-
and truth lies hidden in a misty fog.
In bygone days, old movie theaters brought
us news on film before the featured show
to be the only way shown on a screen.
With no confusion, what was right or wrong;
commitment to believe was held by most.
Then, later on, TV gave instant news-
not then presented as a drama show
competing for high ratings as the goal.
Unbiased, basic facts to us were served-
devoid of changing them to showbiz art.
Belief is shattered by the news today;
our media so quickly spins reports.
The competition with each other steals
one-upmanship to push their biased facts.
Believe- a word not honored in our thoughts.
March 5, 2023
Contest: B--Forms and Words Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Sotto Poet
Chosen Word: Believe
messed-up minds create
massive unfigured acts
theaters of war
January 14, 2023
host: Joe Maverick
contest: Hit List 2023
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