he just wanted to save someone.
comic books and super flicks were his genesis.
in the afternoon, after-school heat, he donned xray sunglasses
and laser swords made from fallen branches.
his younger sister was his sidekick, even though she was just girl
and they would battle ninja pirates from another dimension.
leaping from skyscraping swingsets
through amazonian vegetable gardens
before splash landing into an ocean of spring storm puddles
and he was a hero.
he was superman’s best friend
and batman called him on the weekends
because even the dark knight likes
a good superhero movie.
and he’d let his sister come
because she liked batman, too
which made her less of a girl
he thought.
the three of them would climb
the tall theatre stairs
hand in hand
the boy on one side, his sister on the other
and batman in the middle.
they would hand the cashier a ten dollar bill,
enough for two children’s matinees
because for some reason
batman always got in for free.
and they still had enough left over
for one big popcorn
the kind with free refills.
but no soda.
they drank water.
and they didn’t care
because batman was telling a funny joke
he’d heard from the riddler.
and sometimes, if they were lucky
they’d get there early enough
to watch the previews
and that was the boy’s favorite part.
but before long, the movie would be over
and mom’s deep blue ford taurus station wagon
would roll up to the cinema curb.
they’d wave goodbye to batman
as they crawled into the back seat,
the one that faces the wrong way
and they could watch the sad look
he gave them as they pulled away.
if it was a weekend
the boy could stay up late
reading his comic books
in the living room
with dad watching the late night news
flickering on his furry face.
but on the weekdays,
bedtime was 9 o’clock.
and he would crawl in silence,
through the narrow halls
shadows bouncing off the twisted walls
as he wound his way carefully
between dream and thought
alone into his room
see, mom had stopped tucking him in
a few years ago.
so he switched off the bedroom light himself,
made one last superhuman leap
into bed faster than the darkness could catch him.
where slumber replayed the events
of the day.
superman, batman, hawkman,
the incredible hulk
and even his sister, they were all there.
fighting evil doers and pirate ninjas
until the next day peeked into their fun.
and now, years later
with all the trappings of adulthood
grappling with two jobs
too many classes
and enough broken hearts to fill
the bat cave…
i wonder what happened to that kid.
i still talk to his sister.
she’s starting college now, too.
and she remembers those days
play-acting at being something we weren’t.
or aren’t anymore.
or wish we still could be.
and i wish sometimes,
mostly on days when i can’t seem to get things right
on the tenth, twelfth, or twenty-seventh time
that i could just put on those xray ray-bans
transform my tooth-riddled pencil
into a magic wand
wave it and see the world for what it is.
not what i want it to be.
but this time, have the power to fix it.
if just for five minutes a day,
to travel back in time
and be as adventurous as i once was.
unafraid to jump into danger
and face the unknown
with all the courage of man who can stop bullets.
so now, i look to my cousins, my two nieces and nephews.
the younger ones who still know what it means
to be fearless.
and while their superheroes might not be the same
the message is.
they all just want to save someone.
