Photo by: Jonny Joo
My theatre’s now just empty red seats
the street out front — an empty avenue
no one comes view these cinematic feats
nor the celluloid fantasies I knew
the projector’s a beaut, still shine’n bright
casting cine-magic on the big screen
but the joint’s abandoned night after night
my theater’s now COVID’s haunted scene
sadly a victim of something obscene
we try to grasp why this horrible plague
how could we humans unleash such a scourge
when ask where it came from answers seem vague
as earth chants a bitter funeral dirge
arrogance serves to block true solution
as impatience helps continue the spread
is this the time we pay retribution
is this the end time as many have said
we must reflect as we bury our dead
*
rob kistner © 2021
Poetry at: dVerse
Do check out: mindlovemisery’s menageries
Well-drawn, RK.
Thank you Ron, very much. This was my second offering to this prompt. I took the first one down, and asked Laura to delete the link, but she was gracious and did not — which inspired me to try again. I am not fully 100% satisfied with this one, but it is better than the 1st one. I have not been able to fully sync with this form, but I may try yet again. 🙂
Hitting the double challenge. I think you did justice for both challenges.
Thank you Ron… 🙂
I absolutely luv Stirling’s music videos. And i had not viewed this one before. You must check out Xavier Strings.
I see you went the way of Covid 19 in your poem. So did i.
Much love…
Love her music and her energy Gillena!
I suppose it depends where you live. For some, the covid is just the cherry on the top. I’m glad I live somewhere the covid is about the worst thing we’ve got!
Covid is the death sentence for the human race, it is mutating faster than we can keep up!
An ekphrastic meets novelinee with a timely message from those empty seats.. I like where this one took you in the end – sometimes we need a spell of silence to stir the words. Thanks for persevering!
You are most welcome Laura. This one was a bit of an existential journey — but a very cool trip!
Now finally we are opening up… vaccination is now so high so very few get seriously ill… I hope the remaining ten percent will take the jab.
The USA has far to go Bjorn, no matter how we pretend this scourge is being throttled here — it rages, evolves, mutates, reinvades… fueled by arrogance and ignorance. Truly an example the blindness and weakness of humankind, played out on the stage of hard reality.
Our vaccination rates are going up as well and we look forward to a “normal” kind of life. Hope all is well with you.
I think normal Grace, if it ever comes again, is a long way off. Every sign of potential progress sees the virus mutate in another direction, presenting a different critical challenge.
Such a powerful and thoughtful poem, Rob. It is sad state of affairs.
Thank you Sara, and yes it is. However, the poem “So Too Time”, that I posted today at d’Verse, and read for OLN Live, came to me as I awoke this morning, feeling a glimmer of hope — that maybe things can one day, in the hands of a future generation, be different! 🙂 As far as we now are concerned — we’re so fucked!