SAY ANYTHING TRIPTYCH

Lloyd Dobler

you strike
a power pose
silver boombox held
aloft like a talisman
in the near dusk.
your face is earnest,
even pensive
as peter gabriel's
dulcet tones
paint the sky around your
tan duster
and the beater
you drove
into her empty driveway.
what is it you want
exactly? for her to leave her
father and run away with you
to somewhere exotic? Are you waiting
for her to come, arms wide
and accepting? maybe you'd
just like for her to hear you
and know you're breathing
into the autumn sky
in shadow of her
front door? 


Diane Court

you know it's him:
you can hear
the crunch of the gravel
as he drives up in that
giant car of his. it's kind of cute,
really, that hang-dog look
of his, though you'd never tell
him that; it's much too soon
for such intimacies. Don't smile, girl,
they say at school, 
don't ever let him know you care.
From your bedroom window,
You see his arms raised, spread 
in a type of worship
you see him 
as a kind of sexy, 80's Christ
and that's when you hear
peter gabriel's dulcet
tones talking about the light, the heat
in your eyes.
and it's then that you want to race down
the stairs, fly out the door,
and run straight into his arms.
But you can't reach out for him.
It's still too soon.
We're not quite there yet; you're not 
Molly Ringwald and we're not quite
a John Hughes movie.
At least not yet. In this movie,
you still won't even know 
things are okay, even after
the closing credits roll.

Cameron Crowe

This is not Ridgemont. This is
something else entirely.  Cusak
assumes the position,
hoists the boombox in the air,
and at that very moment,
you know in your gut
that the heavy silver love letter
he's carrying
will define the decade.
You stand behind the camera,
cue the sound guy ("Roll! Speed!"), 
and
in one last bit
of  Hollywood magic
peter gabriel's dulcet tones
come from just behind the boombox--
an audio illusion of love,
a little movie make believe
that will ultimately fill the theater
in stereo--Dolby or THX--depending
on the budget.
Right now, however, as if
in slow motion, the boombox 
rising above your actor's head
is at once iconic,
compelling,
thrilling, romantic,
and moving,
but ultimately tuneless.