Cinema Noire

cinema noireI’m a skeleton sitting in a blackened theater. A large movie Moveme complex with the walls removed and one giant screen. I should be frightened by my skeleton, stripped of flesh and spirit. I’m not. I’m waiting for the movie to begin, for other patrons to fill the empty seats. What if the movie’s over? A pale white light flasherflickers, flickerflashes from the projectionist’s booth. A stranger’s voice calls my name. Charlton Heston playing Moses? Marlon Brando in the apopolypse, apocolips, apoxonlips? A woman with a deep voice, a ventriloquist, a him, a her, a hymn, ahmen, amem.

Lucille Shulklapper is a published poet, fiction writer, and workshop leader. She’s made recordings for the blind, taught reading K-college, volunteered for caregiving youth. She’s also a widow, mother, grandmother, and music of life lover.

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