Poem - 01 October 2019, 14:52

Last Night at the Odeon

Oh, such a place of dreams.
The Art-Deco cinema in Frogmore.
The Odeon.
The most beguiling of silver screens.

Where I constantly risked my life
throughout my reckless teens.
Skint,
I used to climb the back drainpipe.
Climb in through the dance studio loos.

Slip into the stalls.
Soak in the magic.
Fall into the dream.

I remember the last night.
A defiant hippy managers last stand.
A Cheech and Chong all-nighter
and I was old enough by then.

We left at dawn looking like zombies.
Crawled back to our beds.

We said farewell to our palace of dreams
and then they tore it down.

It is a shopping parade now,
full of empty shops.

It is the diametric opposite
of a place of dreams.

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8 comments

Comments

Tony Taylor01 October 2019, 18:04

Sir NIGEL!!...... there's magic here brother....... these are the kind of memories that pepper our adulthood and help us to appreciate things throughout!!..... it's in the magic that the venue itself created in you......I Love it....I have similar places and times in my memory bank brother!!.....thanx so much for sharing this my friend!!.......ALL STARS!!....... groovy two shoes!!.....LOVE & ROCKETS!!.......T xo. : )

Nigel Cresswell...02 October 2019, 01:54

Hi Tony, I think perhaps we were lucky. We had to go to the magic and that was part of it. With Netflix and sky etc kids don't have anything that feels magical.
I miss the old flicks
Nigel

lodigiana01 October 2019, 19:03

Aw Sir Nigel ..loving the memories..I wanted to see ‘What’s New Pussycat’ at the cinema which I think was ‘x’ rated ( can you imagine a film like that being ‘x’ rated now?) anyway I was too young but quite tall..so sneaked out in my Mum’s high heels, best boucle swagger coat and the tartiest red lipstick you ever saw..I did get in but can only imagine what the audience made of this 14 year old ‘hooker’! Anyway saw the film and loved it and your poem brought back some lovely memories..thank you ..Lady L xx

Nigel Cresswell...02 October 2019, 01:57

I found the pic on one of the High Wycombe public sites and the memories flooded back. The dance studio was on the third floor at the back. God knows how I survived puberty.
Nigel