Super-Pop

Most mornings are a cereal bowl

Of kryptonite that withers my fragile will

Rots my confidence like a spring snowbank —

I’m whipped by salted words, hot with prepubescence,

So I retreat into Clark Kent clothes and awkwardness

And scream into the testing with a stomp and a fist down

But on the quiet of a walk under sunshine, he matures,

Watching and naming birds of spring on the black wires;

While he tends the breakfast bacon and begins to cook;

Or on a baseball diamond coached and corrected

To be his best and feel the strength of stars inside.

In those collected moments, a sun sits against the night —

A solar wind in the sky ignites those kindled memories,

Lighting my dreams when my wife shares that, all the while

He imagines me: “Super Pop” the man I someday want to be.

∞

Submitted as part of “National/Global Poetry Writing Month” (#NaPoWriMo #GloPoWriMo).

Today’s prompt:  Day Eight:  “Today, name your alter-ego, and then describe him/her in detail. Then write in your alter-ego’s voice. Maybe your alter-ego is a streetwise detective, or a superhero, or a very small goldfinch. Whoever or whatever your alternate self may be, I hope this prompt lets you stretch both your writing skills and your self-knowledge.”

30 Poems in 30 Days

All text and photography © Dale Schierbeck

…. more of my original Poetry on EatsWritesShoots here.