cinema

i like films
where nearly everybody dies
where the lines are blurred
between the good and the bad
the ugly being the cruel impulse
the impasse the indecision
to strike an enemy down
i like the man with no money
giving what little he owns
to the bandit who will not take
from the poor i like films
that end with a fool unredeemed
a love unrequited the dog
that never came home
i like films where the crops failed
and the bank took all they had
and dilapidated women
stand as firm as farmhouses
in a blistering dustbowl
i like hard vengeance
with a tinge of regret
smeared on the alleyway wall
i like the also rans whose shady
faces frame the scenes
the shadows that turn and walk
away unscripted and nondescript
players that never played
but found themselves forever
etched in brittle celluloid

Image: Alex Avalos on Unsplash