I inwardly sigh for a moment

with pleasure when I see

the local cinema advertises

with glory a classic of the

Silver Screen and the days

of my childhood, sometimes off

school due to sickness, when

the giants of the cinema

would appear in an afternoon special.

The sigh doesn’t last,

except that it becomes more of a groan

of diary recall, deep and more meaningful

than any excitement of bed driven or steak

satisfaction desire, when I realise

that for the first time I might have seen

Yankee Doodle Dandy

on a screen bigger than twenty one inches;

just my luck

a classic upstaged by a classic

as the diary reminds me

of a more important setting

and the wish to see a legend

in the heart of James Cagney

in all his splendour

is brushed away

into the ether

once more.

 

Ian D. Hall 2016