Poets United

Poets United new prompt #32 is based on a song in the movie Casablanca, "As Time Goes By".  Every third week in the month, there is going to be a prompt relating to a musical or movie theme.  Interesting...   I found this the most difficult poem to write, so far.  This is the anniversary date of my Dad's death. It is fitting, this would be movie related. A lot of you know, he wore a star by day(Texaco business) and shown them on the silver screen by night.  Movies were one of his passion, he also loved music, too. He and my Mom met at a movie theater. He was the projectionist; she the concession stand, candy girl. When I was a teenager; I sold tickets, there.
My Dad passed before the magic of VHS, DVDs, flat screen TV's and High Def.  I suspect the Texaco business would of been a movie rental store. I grew up in this movie theater, I spend a lot of weekends going to the movies with him. My Mom also learned to be a projectionist. Would you believe my comfort food is popcorn...


Stars rise n' fall
spliced memories blur the lines,
Reels of pain n' joy arrive,
Caught in a tangled net of stardust.

Kodachrome dreams paint
recycled memories in an adult mind.
Lights, camera, action,
Man enters scene dressed in green hope,
star shone by day on gas fumed
oil stained hands,
At night, silver screen smile
change overs perfected.

Popped fresh thoughts of youth,
Paramount Proud candy girl,
Love of film,cast them together,
Romance, song and trivia, the bait.

Super Nova so bright to remain for long,
Aperture's focus, family n' fun,
Comedy n' drama middle themes,

Frozen tiny stars fell,
During his last matinee,
Dim the lights,
Final scene at  Heaven's gate,
audience lost
...show must go on...

Comments

Sherry Blue Sky said…
This is BEAUTIFUL, Ellie! A lovely tribute to your dad......."spliced memories blur the lines"......"popped fresh thoughts of youth, Paramount Proud candy girl".......it all takes me back to when I was a kid and our town had a Paramount theatre that looked just like the one in your photo. It was a Big Deal going to the Saturday matinee. Wonderful nostalgic poem. I'll bet your mom loves this one!
Ella said…
Hi Sherry-I told her I was writing it. Mom always talked of how big a deal going to the matinee was!
The Wizard of Oz was a huge event! Thank you; Dad use to show me how he spliced film together, so the film flowed and when to see the change overs on screen. I would watch the film at age 10, and be asked to critique his work and enjoy the feature. He was a perfectionist, in this arena~ Funny, My Mom resembles the woman in the Columbia logo~
Thanks for sharing, I love seeing older theaters~
Unknown said…
Absolutely wonderful, Ella. Poetry is a gift, one in which I was last in the queue for, sadly.
Arlee Bird said…
Interesting stylistic approach --it has a beat era feel that seems appropriate for the topic. Nice job of capturing those memories of a time gone by.

Lee
Tossing It Out
Talli Roland said…
What a beautiful poem and a tribute to your father.

I love popcorn, too!
A most wonderful poem Ellie, I could sense the pride of your father .....and how you miss him but as you say the show must go on, I can relate to that.

Enjoy your week-end.
Yvonne.
Will Burke said…
That's some beautiful wordsmithing and imagery! You really delivered with this one!
DEZMOND said…
this was super interesting, seem like you had a magical childhood!
Mary said…
Ellen, I think the prompt came at a good time for you, despite the fact that you found the poem difficult to write. It preserves memories for you that begged to be preserved poetically. I remember old theaters too...so your poem triggered memories in me too, which is what poetry is partially about, I think.
That's a wonderful tribute to your father and his passion!
What a beautiful tribute to your dad. And what a wonderful place to work and build family memories in. Lovely post. :-)
Unknown said…
you are so good at making things roll of the tongue and I truly enjoy reading your work.. I would buy it.. I wish I had money so you and I could do the prompts.. together.. do you think that you could send me them??? and we could do them together??
Philip Thrift said…
Very moving memory of your father and film blended together.
Carrie Van Horn said…
My confort food is popcorn to.....i love this Ellen....what a wonderful tribute to your father! :-)
flaubert said…
Ella a beautiful tribute to your dad. This tugged at my heart. Wonderfully written piece.
Pamela
Unknown said…
What a beautiful, heartfelt poem and tribute to your father, you wove the theme and story together well.
Anonymous said…
Once again, I'm totally impressed with your beautiful and expressive writing! wow. I love your word choices...and I really enjoyed learning those things about your childhood :)
Blessings,
Scarlett
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Anonymous said…
Wow! I don't know what to say. You put the memories into words so ... so ... see, I don;t have the words. But best blog I read today! What a great childhood to have.
L. Diane Wolfe said…
I just realized you're in NC - me too!
Ella said…
Hi Diane-I'm near the VA border; what about you?

Stephen-Thank you so much, means a lot coming from YOU! I did have a pretty good childhood~

Jingle-Thank you; I will visit you soon~

Scarlett-Thank you, you are in my thoughts~xXx

Magic Gypsy-Thank you; I try to use terms my Dad used to describe film. He had a knack for splicing film; He was a magician~

Pamela-Thank you, it was hard to do, but I had to go in this direction. I have thought about it before. The time was right~

Carrie-You make me smile, knowing I'm not alone in my popcorn love~ Thank you!

Phillip-Thank you;I tried to splice the memories and create something he would like~

Lisa-You are sweet; You should give it a go on Think Tank Thursday and link up. I can try to help you; perhaps in the future a duet. I am still struggling with trying to embrace this medium.xXx

Paul-The owners lived in Boston, MA; My Dad and his best friend ran the joint. It was magical~
Thank you!

Alex-Thank you; It was a unique childhood! I loved it~

Mary-Thank you, you are right, the timing was right. I needed to do it~ Thanks, I am glad I reminded you of movie memories. I hope they were magical~
Ella said…
Dezmond-Thank you; It was fun! I did sneak some friends in on occasion! Dad would leave early to head to the matinee and I would take some of my friends. We would hide in the theater, til show time.

Will-Thanks so much; I remember him prepping the film and splicing. He was a master at his craft~

Yvonne-Thank you; Yes, his magic is instilled in many of my memories. My children never met him, yet they have his humor and sense of fun~

Talli-;-D Happy to hear you love popcorn, too~
We make a lot of it, on the stove, cooked in canola oil and then add a pkg of cheese powder from the Mac n' Cheese box. I don't eat the macaroni; I buy it for the cheese mix~Thank you!

Lee-Thank you; It does take me back, to a time, when the world had a different pace.

Wendy-You have other wonderful talents; Thank you!
A lovely song from daughter to dad. He's smiling at Heaven's Gate about this.

I enjoyed this much.