Star Wars Summer Poem by linda barrett

1977 changed my life
A fever came from a galaxy far, far away
everyone caught it
when they went to the movies
except for me
but I wanted to catch it too.
The fever caught my eye
on the cover of American Film magazine
Luke Skywalker and burnished gold C3PO
Hans Solo and Chewbacca
When it landed in a Fairless Hills movie theater,
I begged my father to take me to see it,
He refused
It was too far away.
The fever grew within me.
Luke holding up his shining light saber
Leia with her blaster and exposed thighs
always made me soar deep within
with the same visceral power
as John William's first few bars
from his theme.
My parents drove me to the 309 drive-in
Their sepia-tinted minds
didn't comprehend my fever's throws
for a galaxy far, far away.
After forty years
and so many sequels,
the fever left me
But when I see that original poster
and hear that theme again,
the fever returns
and tears form in my eyes
for that long ago
Star Wars summer.