They used to row their canoes down the San Antonio river,
and sacrifice hearts to Huitzilipochtli down by the Cenotaph,
a stone's throw from the Alamo.
The police ran them off.
A few of them sold tee shirts and key chains in little shops in latter years, though,
and now they live in McMansions with sprawling lawns and gates,
though they're discouraged from displaying their enemies' heads on the points of their wrought-iron fences.
Things change. It's sad.
Now the Aztecs keep their feathers and paint in attics or long-term storage units,
too sentimental to throw them away.
They wear L.L. Bean and J. Jill.
I'll open a crummy theater for third-run movies and call it the Aztec.
It'll be Pachuco heaven where truants can make out.
I'll know the cops by name and offer them coffee
while actresses younger than my kids tear out their hearts on screen for cokey actors in dumb costumes.
I will stay open as long as I can. Ars gratia artis.
________
for Sunday Muse #108, where I am hosting this week. I can't figure out the new dashboard to make this a link. Things always change. Pffft.
"Ars gratia artis", the slogan MGM used to use with the roaring lion, means "art for art's sake."
It's been a long time since Quetzalcoatl.
ReplyDeleteI love the last six lines so much!
ReplyDeleteI will come to your theater; can it be a dollar theater? I miss them so much. I didn't know to appreciate them, growing up in S.A., but since I moved away, I've missed them like crazy.
Shay--This is a wonderful mix of the past and present. Perhaps you could have a night at your theater where all of your groupies are invited? (I especially loved the three shorter stanzas.)
ReplyDeleteThe movie theater always does evoke so many memories for all of us who have entered one. I love the history you painted in a brilliant and darker light that flows here with a satire feel. Sadly things do change. Sometimes for better sometimes for worse. This is wonderful as always Shay!!
ReplyDeleteI love "Things change. It's sad." And the Aztecs being discouraged from displaying heads on wrought-iron fences. Smiles.
ReplyDeleteAnthony North--indeed it has.
ReplyDelete*--The Aztec 3 was indeed a dollar theater. Good catch! I loved them, too. When I was in the Philippines there was a dollar theater that was outdoors. It was awesome. And there was beer.
Sioux--Sounds good. Hey, what ever happened to the Banshees?
Carrie--thanks so much my Muse pal!
Sherry--I hate little niggly rules like that!
ReplyDeleteIf ever I have an opportunity to visit San Antonio, I will visit this Aztec 3 you write of ... a fascinating place in the World of Shay. Will stay away from the ritzy section.
ReplyDeleteThings change, but not always for the better unfortunately. Oh, if I could only sit with the theater's ghosts and hear their stories.
ReplyDeleteI got so lost in the history of the Aztec. I have family in San Antonio, and I've never heard them mention it. I loved your musings!
ReplyDelete"discouraged from displaying their enemies' heads on the points of their wrought-iron fences. / Things change. It's sad." -- Ahahaha! Also L.L. Bean and J. Jill. Will you sell puluque at your Theatre de Azteca? Maybe popcorn and salamanders. Nightly showings of Montezuma's Revenge.
ReplyDeleteSuch a pleasure to read the alternate version of San Antonio.
ReplyDeleteA history lesson with a huge dose of imagery
ReplyDeleteand nostalgia. Good one, Shay!
Amazing.
ReplyDeletePerfection--and political--political perfection, sad, defiant, crisp.
ReplyDeleteThings change indeed, I went to a Pow Wow a couple of years ago and was fortunate to learn the sun dance from some Aztec dancers. A dance for healing.
ReplyDeleteAs always, your trademark sly wit and mastery of the unobtrusive but evocative nuance are on full display. I love the pachuco reference, and the nostalgia for the culture, the reassuring detail, of the past, even if that involved sacrifice, bloody feathers and heads on spikes of the imagination. Movie theaters like this weren't just part of a town, in many ways, they were the town.
ReplyDeleteA trip down memory lane in a manner of speaking..
ReplyDelete"they wear L.L. Bean and J. Jill". I just imagined that and first it tickled me and then it was sad.
ReplyDelete