They Watch Movies

They get two at a time
From the store down the street

One they've seen
And one they haven't

It's becoming harder and harder
To find ones they haven't

The guy at the store
The owner
Tells them that he can't stay in business much longer

All these mail order DVD's
Are putting him out of business
And he's going to sell the place
To people who want to turn it into
A yogurt shop for the local college kids

They don't know what they'll do when that happens
But for now, they watch movies

They smoke cigarettes
Until the ashtrays are full

Then they dump the ashtrays in the garbage
And smoke until the garbage is full

They rip open plastic potato chip bags
With their teeth

Potato chips don't stain
That's why they eat them
And yet, stains keep appearing
On the rug

They let the kids play in their rooms
And watch whatever they want on tv

But the living room is for movies
For the ones they've seen
And the ones they've forgotten

Everything seems familiar
And the familiarity is frustrating

Did we see this one, they ask
Did we see this one before?

The kids ride bikes around the kitchen
And they're too tired to care

They wonder if they're dreaming this
If they're dreaming what they're seeing
And what day it is

They lose track of what's happening in the movies they see
And what's going on around them

They see aliens screwing on the coffee table
Dinosaurs eating the pet rabbits
Action heroes getting fat
On the broken recliner

The kids go out in the backyard
And wait for it to snow

While they rewatch what they just watched
Hoping to catch the story this time
Or at least the important words

They should talk
They should move
They should turn off the movies
And turn on something else
Anything else

The lights
The heat
The whatever it was
Behind their eyes

That was there
Before the movie reels
Started rolling

Before the kids
Got so big
And demanded so much

Before everybody
And everything
Became complex

So now they watch movies
With easy beginnings
And fast endings

And when the movies are over
They go to bed
And fall asleep
Talking to themselves

Telling themselves what they'd like to hear
What they'd like to see
Played out on the tv

Wondering what movies they'll pick up tomorrow
Wondering what they'll pick up the day after that
And the day after that

Until the day the store is gone
And the tv breaks
And the kids move out

And they're sitting on a couch
Staring at nothing

Wondering when something's going to happen
Something they haven't seen
Before