Hollywood at Twilight

Reflections on a decaying time.

“Acting is a creative business. Nothing creative functions well when fenced in or leaning on a prop.”  -Van Heflin

He climbed the slope to the top of Mt. Lee as the city unfolded below him.
The hike up through Griffith Park was not too strenuous, but he felt weary.
Coming over a rise he saw the refurbished sign: Hollywood.
But what has become of this once glittering symbol, what madness
Now reigns?  The star has faded like footsteps at the tideline.

Finding rest at the summit, behind the Hollywood sign,
He gazed out at Mulholland’s miracle as lights were coming on 
In the growing twilight, he wondered how many had sat here,
Desperate for a shot that their fame and fortune
Might take flight in this same coming of the night.

The lights still burn on Sunset’s strip, the Walk of Fame still there,
Though burdened with trash and grime, the glitter did not turn to gold.
The echoes of directors calls whisper through the surly streets,
A town laced together in tinsel and dreams now breaths heavily
Under the burden of illusions bought and sold.

Somehow though, in the gathering gloom he thought
Perhaps a spark may yet be lit that would return original and
Visionary scripts to hands not even yet born.
He started the trek downward in the gloaming,
Comforted that in the cycles of time, all, perhaps, shall be well.

I have always loved movies, good movies -it’s in my blood from the “greasepaint” side of my family. But I look at the vast majority of what is being made today and I either cry or groan. Having climbed up to the top of Mt. Lee, where the “Hollywood” sign shines out to the world, a few thoughts came to me. I hope you enjoy.