Everyone has a Rime of the Ancient Mariner in Them

All the kids are chewing bubble gum and reciting their The Rime of the Ancient Mariner to each other. It is like a scene for Cocteau's Orphee where everyone is hanging out at the sidewalk cafe only they are all worrying about their performance and rendition. Young men thrusting their arms into the sky with passion only actors can muster. They all think if they can hit it just right; there will be a big contract waiting for them. Many figures of figures dance in their heads, they imagine a Rolls Royce and a driver but unlike the poets in Cocteau's movies the radio was turned off for its distraction and noise. Someone complains about how hard it is to memorize an entire poem. Yet recitals are given every minute. Time steps backwards into a mirror. She smokes a cigarette on a long holder from under a veil. She studies them all mouthing their words and swinging their arms and decides she can wait awhile.