Ode to a Lady

Today is the last day that the Keith-Albee will be open to show movies. It is the end of an era.

Last April, when S was on his Emmaus walk, the boys and I went to see Sahara at the Keith. I took the photos in this post then from the balcony.

Ode to a Lady

She burst onto the scene as a flapper.
Covered in bangles and beads,
Jitterbugging her way into her city.
Opulent. Gorgeous. Outrageous.
The future looked bright and sparkling.

Just as she was starting to spread her wings,
The bottom dropped out.
The world crashed around her.
Her city struggled through the “Great Depression.”
And so did she.
Clark Gable
Mae West
W.C. Fields
Lit up her screen
Floods frightened everyone and
motivated the building of a wall.
She left her childhood behind,
And became a lady
A welcome distraction for her city.

Just as the sun was shining again
Bombs fell.
Her city marched off to war,
To fight fascism and hatred.
John Wayne
Humphrey Bogart
Judy Garland
Entertained those left behind.

Time marched on.
She was a grand dame
On Fourth Avenue.
Magic danced on her screen
Elizabeth Taylor
Grace Kelly
Marilyn Monroe
Matched her elegance.

A president was killed.
Man walked on the moon.
A time came when injustice
Would begin to fall.
A woman kept her seat on the bus.
A minister was killed.
Her city watched the world change
With wide-open eyes.
John Wayne
Sidney Poitier
Rock Hudson
Who is this Mrs. Robinson?
Who is coming to dinner?

She admired Robert Redford’s eyes,
And cheered for Clint Eastwood.
She laughed at her city.
Who was telling them to wear such awful clothes?
She jumped high into the sky
Frightened by the sound of X-wings.
What does THX mean, anyway?
But she sighed, and put in earplugs.
She saw the future and would adapt.
By the way, who are
Harrison Ford
Carrie Fisher
Mark Hamill?

Her city started to change even more
Stores closed.
Malls opened.
People stopped walking the streets.
Multiplexes? What’s a multiplex?
But she changed, too.
Walls went up.
Maybe no one would notice that
The sounds of one movie
Could be heard during the silent times of another.
Or that one theater had a pole down the middle.
But the men were sure handsome
Tom Cruise (so young!)
Arnold Schwarzesomething (so big!)
Eddie Murphy (so funny!)

She was still grand.
Sitting in her balcony
Was like being transported to another world.
How could all of this
Be behind that little façade on Fourth Avenue?
She had the best popcorn in the world.
And could take you to other worlds.
Tom Hanks
Julia Roberts
Demi Moore
She tapped her hearing aid
And wondered
Was that Star Wars? Again?

A fire frightened her almost to death.
But when the smoke cleared.
She straightened her shoulders,
Shook out her dress
Refreshed her makeup
And went back to work.
The show must go on.

Times were still changing.
Towers fell
And she cried with her city.
Movies glistened on the screen
Live action marched on her stage.
Men decided to show the full monty,
And she shook her head.
Her hands covering her eyes,
But she watched through a slit in her fingers.
She wasn’t dead, after all.

A word was whispered,
Stadium seating.
A dream was realized.
Super Block was no longer empty.
Ironic that the fulfillment of one dream
Would bring hers to a close.
She could change her sound system,
Show more movies,
But she could not change her bones.

The screen will be blank.
The stage will be silent.
No more popcorn.
No more sticky floors.
The doors are closed,
But her heart still beats.
Her city holds its breath.
Is this an opportunity?
Or is this the end?