Please Refrain from Talking During the Movie

By Robert Polito b. 1951 Robert Polito

When I can’t make you understand I repeat myself

I repeat

If you don’t stop asking me all these questions how

Will I understand anything

Please refrain from talking during the movie

I need a life that isn’t just about needing

To escape my life

Please God please may Carrie please fall for me

I want to show off my hidden camera

I’m an informer but I have my limits

You hurt him once before now what

If she’s there I don’t know if I can go

Please refrain from talking during the movie

Leave a message if you can’t reach me

To exit press enter and don’t forget your receipt

When I think I read new things I want

A life where I read and think new things

Please refrain from talking during the movie

I want to know nothing

Again

Please God please may Carrie please fall for me

I repeat myself when I can’t

Make you understand I repeat

Source: Hollywood & God (University of Chicago Press, 2009)

Biography

Poet and scholar Robert Polito was born in 1951 in Boston, Massachusetts. He earned his PhD from Harvard and has served since 1992 as director of Creative Writing at The New School. On January 23, it was announced that Robert Polito will become the second president of the Poetry Foundation on July 8, 2013. Polito’s collections of poetry include Hollywood & God (2009) and Doubles (1995). His poetry blends narrative and lyric . . .

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