NaPM April 03, 2017

[rayheinrich]

               


                                                        < I AM SpiderMan >

                It's midnight in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey's Training Administration Building
                and two U.S. Army privates have just finished buffing its third floor.

                One of them is claiming superhero status.
                Both of them are about two hours into an acid trip.

                "I AM SpiderMan!" George shouts.
                "Shut the fuck up" Ray whispers.

                George (in spite of his combat-inspired brain damage) is speaking metaphorically.
                Ray (whose brain damage is unheroically genetic) is not.

                In keeping with his SpiderMan claims, George is hanging by one hand from a
                third floor window and sweeping the air with his other.

                Ignoring the warnings of his better angel, Ray is sitting on the sill watching
                fluorescent spider silk stream from George's fingers.

[Keith]

Instead of Homework

The corner shop learned to resist
four o'clock, its neat rows
and smartly stacked columns
disheveled by handfuls
as they rush to the call of sugar.
Smiths, salt and vinegar crisps
and a golden cup
would be our quiet shoppers tipple.

A latch key kid
boot lace around his neck
reaches home and unlocks a moment
in the silence of the house.
The dog follows his routine,
barking to come back inside
to sit by his side and watch the movement
of food like a tennis match.

Their feast is completed by a glass of milk
and the words Hanna Barbera
as the warming TV screen
brightens into colour and gives up
another anticipated episode.

[nibbed]

Jonny Quest!

I went with him everywhere,
on each exciting adventure.

Remember Hajji?
The beautifully gentle,
colorful and wise
brown skinned kid
who wore a turban?

I imagined
there were tools & weapons
wrapped up in that thing,
at least a microscope!

In a way, I pretended to be
Invisible Girl,
Jonny's clear shadow;

Every episode I sneak peeked out
from behind the captain's seat
and secretly rode along, holding on tightly
through every heroic harrowing hairpin.

I knew I'd only be
just another colorless celluloid,
stuck in a stack,
finding small moments to escape;

But I'd use
my cherished super power,
Sticky Cling,
because good static
goes a long way.

[Lizzie]

Greyskull Girls

She had all the best
accessories. The crown, the boots,
the bracelets, the sword--
the bouncy blonde hair,
coordinated with her sexy dress.
At seven years old, the message was clear:
beauty and possessions make you powerful.
She had all the power
that a child does not possess;
she was what we wanted to be
when we grew up.