Words&Dirt

The night I learned
that the cinema in our town
was closing,
I wept.

I sifted memories, turned back time
trying to reclaim all those moments
of awe
sadness
exhilaration
joy
sitting in shadow with folks
just plain Americans
in our nothing special, sometimes faulty cinema
it’s janky but it’s ours.

We lost ourselves in that third space
happily together but each in our separate worlds
the dark, the lights, the sound
overwhelming in the best way
war without death
love without heartbreak
laughter without silence
family without loss
beauty without decay
time without age
Hollywood’s not a bad home
for a couple hours.

It was inevitable, wasn’t it?
it’s on us, one way or another
Covid didn’t help I’m sure
but it was us
couch-bound, cocooned, streaming our lives away
the last few times I went
thinking
how is this place still open?

So farewell you gorgeous house of dreams
I was there at your birth
and will be there at your death
how many showings can one reasonably attend
in four weeks?

Perhaps someday you’ll return
gods of film
send us a cinematic savior
maybe some mustachioed, beer-swilling entrepreneur
or a faceless corporate chain
details be damned, just bring it back
and I’ll be there
first in line
hopes exhumed
for your Lazarus Moment.