Take a seat and get settled in,

The film is about to begin

To grow thick in this mind here,

And over there, thin.  

Look!  Craziness has brought a friend

So in the end, you can try to comprehend this.  

Don’t feel apprehensive,

Don’t contend;

For now, wait until the movie ends.  

 

Age-stained images flickering across this face,

Static attacking, ripping apart the border.  A trace

Of unkempt feelings like sorrow and anxiety brings taste

To disgrace,

So you can indulge with haste

And crumple your paper-thin face with surfeit

And toss it at my feet

For me to pick up

Along with the rest of the film.  

Please, don’t make it grow up

And grow old

And die inside of me,

And especially don’t let it live

Silently.  

 

Fleeting expressions appearing like magic

From an ancient eye that observes a world so tragic,

Standing on its three wobbly legs,

Trembling due to its own weakness,

Or so says the world around it,

But no argument has ever been sounded

From an eye that sees only film.  

 

The only way to stop this madness

Is to attach a lens cap, leave me blind to the mess

Of crumpled wrappers and stale tears in darkness.  

If it doesn’t fit, make it!

Otherwise, I won’t make it!

Fiction is playing in my mind; it’s not erratic,

But please cut it short, please!  I’m going manic

And the real memories are lost to static

Fizzing and failing in the corners of this box;

The extra garnish on this disgrace is toxic.  

As the film takes over my all-seeing eye

Building up to the climax

The main character seems ready to die;

“And all the tension,

All the suspense,

With words both said and unsaid,

Carries over to this tragic end,”

Says the friend.