Matinee

Patrick Phillips

After the biopsy,

after the bone scan,

after the consult and the crying,

for a few hours no one could find them,

not even my sister,

because it turns out

they'd gone to the movies.

Something tragic was playing,

something epic,

and so they went to the comedy

with their popcorn

and their cokes,

the old wife whispering everything twice,

the old husband

cupping a palm to his ear,

as the late sun lit up an orchard

behind the strip mall,

and they sat in the dark holding hands.