Nightshade Poem by Roger Hudson

Edging forward the expectant queue
Becomes more expectant as box office nears
At Odeon Playhouse Plaza
As denizens emerge to blink in alien daylight
Making room for us

Into the warm dark smokefilled cavern we stumble
Usherette's torch our only guide
Trying to ignore the monster faces
glimpsed sideeyeswise distorted

Earblasting bombards
- whine and crack of gunshot
- a faceless scream
- a shout
- the surge of drums and cello
Skittering sounds words music

Echo confuse disorient
Till squeezed past knees and more knees
We sink into comfort in smoke-filled gloom
Eyes ears lock-on to flickering patterns
Black white greys

Image-sound light shade nightshade
Imaginations engage
Filling in unseen story so far
Leap out of our heads
Into fantasyland

And new identity
As cowboy gangster playboy hero cop
Heiress moll squaw heroine circus-star
And leave the world
For an hour or two or three

Forgetting homework, chores, worries, wars
Gone mindwandering adventuring winning through
caught up in drama melodrama
Emotion feast of laughter fear terror pity empathy excitement
Absorbed into that many-headed laughing crying emoting creature called audience

Free yet captive
To the bright light lure
Of stars and studios
All ours for one and six
Till regretful
Glancing back for one last thrill

Reverse our steps
We leave in the middle again
To catch our bus
Withdrawing to rush and reality
Once more