poem of the day 10.21.09

more and more it seems like this

we pay for the bad movie
and then find seats watching the
sunday masses join us from out of the cold
and i wonder how we all came up
with the same idea, at the same time
but then i realize humanity is inherently redundant
and the lights dim without anyone getting quiet
and previews for other bad films
are showing on the screen
as loud people continue to infest
the theater, blocking aisles
and using their phones as a source of blue light
the man next to me keeps on fielding phone calls
the previews end and the movie comes on
and he’s still fielding phone calls
one, two, three, and i tell myself
that if it rings again i’m going to break
his fucking phone over his head
and it does ring again, but as i’m getting up
to throttle him
the man leaves his seat and exits the theater
(he doesn’t come back)
but that’s all right because now the cocksucker
behind me has decided to start talking on his phone
and the asshole three rows ahead has started texting
so have others
the bad dialog of the film, the bad soundtrack,
are complemented by beeps from all over the theater
and people are still talking
i want to check my watch, but i don’t because
that’s a universal sign to my wife that i find a film bad
so i try and check my watch off the light of the screen
as another cell phone goes off in the theater
we’ve only been at it for an hour
another thirty-four minutes to go
before i can forget that this film ever existed
before i can forget the people in here ever existed
thirty-four minutes before we can leave this bad film
and go down the block to the bar
where they are already drunk at five in the afternoon
yelling about football and old, bad movies
and about how much they hate the black president.