Carol Elliott - Evening Devotionals

That night I got drunk and staggered off to the movies
like Frankenstein in search of a friend.

Throughout the previews
a river of rum poured from Planters jar to Pepsi cup,
and was quickly swilled down to murkier depths.
It was a sad movie and I cried a lot.
The girl in the movie drank too.
I liked that part and cried harder.

Raptured moviegoers continued their popcorn devotionals
with unshakeable faith in its healing powers.
We all came to be healed-
chewing our flattened Milkduds
and awaiting a moment of ever-lasting comfort,
a fleeting frame's worth of holy communion.

(San Francisco 1982)

Carol Elliott

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/evening-devotionals/