dinner theater

the dinner theater,
showing west side story
was full.
the buses lined the parking
lot, parked sideways
next to one other.
some with jersey plates,
Pennsylvania too.
Maryland and west Virginia.
everyone who got off was old.
the actors were waiters.
all slender and raw.
bringing drinks, and bread,
salads and Salisbury steaks
to the tables.
then the lights would go down
and the acting would
begin, singing
and dancing, the sharks
against the jets. the tension
was minimal.
a beautiful young woman
with enormous eyes
sang Maria. she got the most
applause. at intermission,
the actors would bring
coffee cake and coffee
to the tables, before
going back onstage to
finish the play. you could
hear people saying
that their steaks were
undercooked, or stringy, or that
they couldn't find
their glasses. my coffee's
cold. do we pay now?
then lights would go up,
the actors, faces sweaty, smeared
with makeup would bow.
the place would empty,
the buses loaded. they'd
pull away in a blue cloud
of diesel fumes going back
to from where they came.