Passion Pits

Submitted by Cleo Anna Laybourne

Hot date, hot dogs and hot rods
Cruisin' to check what's on at
The Belt, Frontier and Skylark theatres
Drive-in movie magic

A ticket booth guards the stage
Where speaker posts stand like tombstone
Saluting the silent screen, a giant sheet
bleaching in the noon day sun

At dusk cars crawl behind the fence
Bulky gray speakers grasp half-closed windows
Coming attractions light up the nit
Alan Ladd looms larger than life in "Shane."

Double-dates fill Ford convertibles
High schools romeo snake their arms
Around their best girls' shoulders
Pack of gum passed around before kissing

Necking sessions compete
With action on the screen
Taffetas can can-cans rustle in the back seat
While muffled sounds blare from bad speakers

Intermission. Buttered popcorn and cold sodas
Dance and sing across the silver screen
A girl shares details of her date
While their guys head for the snack bar

Male mouth smudged with Tangee lipstick
Order treats, and pick their way through
a maze of pickups, Plymouths and Chevrolets
Now showing. "Around the World in 80 Days"

A Double feature on the neon marquee. James Dean
In the epic "Giant," and a bonus, "East of Eden"
Poachers pop out of a Pontiac trunk
Cheapskates sneak in the exit after dark

St. Joe, Mo. 1956