Stratford Theater On Saturday Poem by Michael Pruchnicki

The matinee on Saturday was a dress rehearsal
for the evening performance. The acrobats
and dogs on hind legs, comics in baggy pants
and an occasional singer ran through routines
before a lethargic audience waiting impatiently
for the black and white double feature
starring Humphrey Bogart or the Marx Brothers -
no easy laughs from this crowd!

I worked double shift from early afternoon
to midnight with six other ushers
patrolling the aisles with flashlight
and broom and dustpan until
the evening crowd converged
on a lights lit up West 63rd Street -
five theaters in a two block square
along with restaurants and bars
ablaze with neon signs!