Dark, be not proud, though some have cause
To fear when you fall, for you’re not that bad.
For those with blind eyes, you’re vexing a tad,
But not so much when all live by your laws.
You’re at your worst when men barge in because
They want some drugs that they can’t seem to find.
It’s hard to tell their truthfulness of mind
When I can’t see their flimsily-veiled flaws.
Thou art slave to caves, blinds, clouds, and Audrey Hepburn
And dost with broken lights and switchblades dwell,
But lighters and fridge doors can your shadow quell,
And thwart your hopeful fortunes, which (yep) turn.
One long night past, with you and deadly men,
And I won’t dare unlock the door again.
__________________
(In following today’s NaPoWriMo prompt, today’s poem is a parody/satire poem, in this case of John Donne’s “Death, Be Not Proud.”)
The movies have taught us quite a lot about stranger danger. Innerspace bade us to be wary of sudden injections, or else you may end up with Dennis Quaid inside your body. Twilight Zone: The Movie warned us against hitchhikers, even those as friendly-looking as Dan Aykroyd. And this film, Wait until Dark, teaches us not to accept heroin-filled dolls from people you just met on a transatlantic flight, especially if you have a blind wife and habitually leave your front door unlocked. Such is the setup for the most Hitchcockian film I’ve seen that doesn’t bear his name.
After a coworker recommended this one-room thriller to me, I was intrigued to see the lovely Audrey Hepburn in a less glamorous role, as housewife Susy Hendrix, a damsel in distress who is easily distressed due to her blindness. Her tense performance garnered an Oscar nomination, and, even if some of her reactions seem overacted, she does it well enough to never tip into histrionics. Alan Arkin is outstanding as Mr. Roat, one of the original creepy, single-minded killers with a bad haircut (you know the type), and his character might have become one of the great iconic villains had he benefited from more screen time. Richard Crenna and Jack Weston are also well and good as Roat’s bribed/blackmailed allies.
The main issue with this film is the suspension of disbelief throughout the middle. The movie starts out with a compelling setup and certainly ends well, but the bulk of the plot involves an elaborate ploy by the three baddies to trick Mrs. Hendrix into searching for the missing doll. Not only is it hard to believe that they would go to all that trouble, but Hepburn’s naiveté is equally improbable. She at first seems to immediately accept whoever walks through her door, and, though she proves to be more wise and perceptive than she first appears, her initial gullibility is just one of the film’s plot holes.
Yet once all the subterfuge is over and the narrative builds to its semi-famous climax, it becomes sheer tension. Let’s just say that the finale earns the “Dark” in the title as it morphs from Hitchcock into a precursor to Halloween. Whatever the faults of the film’s middle, the end certainly deserves a watch and teaches that other important movie lesson: just because you stab someone doesn’t mean they’re dead!
Best line: (Susy) “How would you like to do something difficult and terribly dangerous?” (Gloria, her young helper) “I’d love it!”
Rank: List Runner-Up© 2015 S. G. Liput
298 Followers and Counting
When R.P. McMurphy gets bored,
He’s sent to a hospital board
To see if he’s nuts
Or just faking with guts
To reach the relaxed mental ward.
He starts to make unstable friends
And bucks what the nurse recommends.
Nurse Ratched cruelly
Won’t let him watch TV,
But Mac sees how far a rule bends.
Before ol’ Mac busts out, the bum
Carouses with each crazy chum.
When in comes the nurse,
Words and actions are terse,
But one inmate will not succumb.
___________________
Cities are a dying breed,
Though those who live in them know not.
They’re full of people, noise, and need,
Yet lack the treasures man forgot,
The joys of wind and sprouting seed
And peace of mind that can’t be bought.
Here in Cross Creek, my writing wakes,
Surrounded by the Spanish moss,
By sylvan streams that link the lakes
And tiny boats to get across.
I moved here for the silence’ sakes;
The lack of clamor is no loss.
My neighbors are a different folk;
Like me, they tend to stay apart,
To work beneath the ancient oak
And never reckon to depart.
We hear the frogs in chorus croak
And know the creatures’ songs by heart.
Cities are a dying breed,
Though some say nature will go first.
Yet renters ever will secede
To find the home for which they thirst.
Cross Creek and peace will thrive indeed
When all the cities have dispersed.
__________________
Rebecca is dead, but her room is the same.
The servants still miss her and whisper her name.
Her husband is grieving, and tries to move on,
But Mrs. de Winter is not fully gone.
Her secrets remain, as do Mr. de Winter’s,
Secrets that torture him daily like splinters.
His new wife is innocent, nervous, and shy;
She shouldn’t learn them, nor understand why.
But secrets have habits of being found out,
Casting suspicion and panic and doubt.
Rebecca is dead, Mrs. Danvers knows well,
And yet Manderley is still under her spell.
________________
Did you ever feel that you were being watched,
That someone saw each time you won or botched?
No one’s watching; don’t despair
(At least as far as I’m aware),
Yet Truman Burbank’s on TV,
Living life for all to see,
Quite contented in his dome,
Which he doesn’t know is home.
He has fans around the world who watch him daily
As he greets Seahaven every morning gaily.
No reality show’s greater,
Thanks to Christoff, its creator.
Due to Christoff’s shrewd promotion,
Truman’s frightened of the ocean,
So he never leaves his isle,
Though he’s tempted for a while.
Truman’s been content with blinders since his youth,
But he starts to have an inkling of the truth.
From a star that might be fake
To a radio mistake
To endorsements from his wife,
Things revolve around his life,
Such that he begins to wonder
What conspiracy he’s under.
He attempts to leave his quaint, idyllic course
But is urged to linger, even if by force.
When at last he gets away,
Sailing off across the bay,
Christoff tries to be his guide
From the unknown world outside.
Truman doesn’t want ideal;
He would rather have what’s real.
________________
A man is sadly at his least wise
When he prefers work above his own loveliest prize.
Wisdom can spring from pain or the past;
How you and I choose is our generation’s contrast.
Journals and annals have much to tell:
Listen and look to find in them what lessons may dwell.
Dreams are perhaps best when advertised:
Speaking them may render them more potent when realized.
Regret grows when foolish sleepers wake;
Contentment grows from dodging someone else’s mistake.
___________________
Deep in Siberia, prison of nature,
Brig of the barbarous Soviet ship,
Men were convinced there could be no escapers;
No one could hope to survive such a trip.
Janusz, a Pole locked away by betrayal,
Hoped and gave hope when it nearly was dead.
Rushing from Russians through snow-glutted gale,
Seven escaped from the Gulag and fled.
Journeying south through the frost and the firs,
Through hunger and fears that they may not arrive,
Ever they traveled with personal spurs,
Keeping the world-weary rovers alive.
Onward and onward, from hills unto lakes,
Lakes unto hills unto plains unto sand,
Onward through nature’s unbearable aches,
Onward they walked over merciless land.
Husband and artist, accountant and priest,
Father and criminal—all carried on.
Though they were free, some were further released
To journey no farther until the last dawn.
Sojourning south through the sting of the sun,
Through thirst and through fears that they may not arrive,
Ever they traveled till travels were done,
Clinging to that which keeps all men alive.
________________
X-Men United? Well, not all that much.
There’s six or so heroes, and Rogue who can’t touch.
The rest of the mutants unfortunately
Line up with Magneto or stay absentee.
A cure for mutations has been synthesized,
And soon its great risk is sensationalized.
Meanwhile, Jean Grey has returned from the grave
To murder the friends that she perished to save.
As evil Magneto initiates war,
The X-Men fight back, as they’ve all done before.
For those wishing for Bryan Singer on hand,
This thankfully isn’t the X-Men’s last stand.
___________________
To soldiers we send to the other side
In pain and grief and bodies still—
Esteem is the least we can provide.
When enemies suddenly surfaced to kill,
Due honor was given to young Private Chance
In pain and grief and bodies still.
His body and others would no more advance.
Homeward he went with Marine Michael Strobl;
Due honor was given to young Private Chance.
Everywhere everyone noticed the noble,
Mournful delivery, precious cargo.
Homeward he went with Marine Michael Strobl.
No greater debt does society owe
To those who return in a flag-buried box,
Mournful delivery, precious cargo.
We mustn’t ignore those who bear our worst shocks.
To soldiers we send to the other side,
To those who return in a flag-buried box,
Esteem is the least we can provide.
_______________
Brave Athos and Porthos and Aramis three
Fell victim to fraud that they could not foresee.
These fine musketeers were the heroes of France
But now are in need of a grand second chance.
When reckless D’Artagnan arrives with his sword
And makes first impressions that garner reward,
The Cardinal Richelieu plots and conspires
To trigger a war with a helper he hires.
It’s up to D’Artagnan and those musketeers
To launch the great quest of their noble careers.
For king, queen, and country, and also romance,
They’ll sail for adventure to rescue all France.
____________________
Rhyme and Reason 