There used to be only a just bearable few
Now there are an unbearable few hundred
Witnessed in the dreaded half dark drop before the film
Their assault rakes you like steelwool grating blood
Your eyes burning as your brain roasts them with its frying
Your inner voice screaming for their gouging of life’s brief moment
If they generate any curiosity at all
It’s accidental and rarely compensatory
These desperately cut views of potential financial losers
All that’s good about them nowadays
Is that arriving at the theater late
Ten minutes or maybe more after the advertised start
You can still not miss a movie’s beginning
Interminable trailers a welcome cushion against tardy admission
Lanning Lee 