Sheila Knowles - the pictures

I loved going to the pictures
when I was a kid
that’s what we called it then
in the days before online tickets
and the Imax experience

It was an afternoon’s event
two to three hours
of childhood debauchery
dodging the light
from the usher’s torch
when we’d fired popcorn
from the balcony
or dribbled our fizzy orange
on some poor fool’s head

We’d yawn and snort our way
through the trailers
and the lead-up film
then yelp like hyenas
when those heavy velvet curtains
dragged themselves along the floor
for the feature

There was an intermission in those days
most of us
didn’t even understand the word
but it rolled off our tongues
like the tang of the orange ice pops
we’d shove into our greedy gobs

I remember the smell
dust and static
and popcorn salt
all mixed into a heady froth of excitement
a bubble of innocent joy
that even time
hasn’t managed to burst

Sheila Knowles

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-pictures/