From Page to Screen

If you go to see a movie
After you have read the book,
You may wonder at the liberties
The film producers took.

For so many things get lost or changed
In media transition,
That I question whether they received
The novelist’s permission.

When a writer writes a book, he knows
How each scene should appear;
The characters and how they look
To him, are crystal clear.

Yet once those rights are signed away,
The writer might just find
That the actor on the screen is not
The face he had in mind.

Some chunks of action get left out
And details get adjusted.
It’s possible the author feels
Quite angry or disgusted.

I guess his compensation
Makes him leave those thoughts alone.
Control is lost, like parents
Once their child has up and grown.

But when I watch the movie
Of a book that I’ve enjoyed,
I wonder if the author’s
Feeling happy or annoyed.