The Last Drive-In Picture Show

- Betwixt: Phase II - Poem III -

You find yourself outside my door,

Replaying the same scene we’ve been in before

No plan or scripted line,

Just the signs I’ve given you a thousand times

I picture you inside alone,

A still frame bathed in monochrome

I wish you’d just turn to look at me,

Instead of focusing on future stability

In the middle of the night, I’m breaking,

You call me, you're shaking

Were my motives clear? Did my reasons show?

Were my feelings overthrown?

This is the last drive-in picture show,

Where I beg you softly, not to go

Put my name in lights, let it glow,

Don’t drive off before saying to me what I need to know

You find yourself at my apartment gate,

I was there at one point, but you were late

You wear regret like something to grow from,

A wardrobe that’s been changed, but you still play the same character’s heart drum

And all the times I’ve let you in,

You say you’ll care, that it’ll end

You vanish just when I believe,

Then come back begging for me not to grieve

In the dead of night, my anxiety’s aching,

You’re in your room, pacing

Do I jump ship and swim to shore?

In the middle of the hurricane, will I be cared for?

This is the last drive-in picture show,

Where the credits roll, and you seem so low

Will you claim me or just let me go?

Do you see love or a melancholic glow?

This is the last time that I’ll ask you this,

Please just care and give me something to risk

This is the last time I’ll rephrase my lines,

Just give me a signal that you’re willing to try

This is the last drive-in picture show,

Where we could be something that they’d always know

A love in wide screen, soft and slow,

You’ll blink, and I’ll have grown

This is the last drive-in picture show,

So tell me, will you stay or will I go?

If love is pain, is this just a mark?

If relationships are hard, is this just a rocky start?

The fade to black lets me know,

Is this our end, or just the start of another show?