This poem started out as a few smaller poems and eventually made its way into this. It started from a discussion we were having in class about what comic book rain looks like and I thought "That would be a great title for something" Here is that something:
Comic book rain
doesn't really look like rain
it is just a bunch of lines that go this way
and some more lines that go this way
and out of context some might say
it is just a bunch of lines
but when the bunch of lines are on the paper
I know its rain
and you know its rain
and the little boy who’s read it 30 times
this morning
most certainly knows that it is rain.
But maybe a lot of things are like that
maybe a lot of things need some clouds
for context
and need something to land on,
imprint themselves upon,
maybe we’re all like that
needing each other to reassure ourselves that
we are actually real.
Because maybe we’re just all lines
like the yellow ones on the street
and maybe we need to get
repainted every few years as well
we repaint ourselves constantly
as if we will never run out of paint.
If everyone saw the same color blue in the sky
then everyone would be the same as you and I
there are some moments that everyone wants to die
their hair red
and move to the town that is cold most mornings
where no one heads the 6 am red sky warning
because they aren't up early enough in the morning
all of them eyes closed mourning
the hours that they will never see again
from the night before
on their cheek the imprint of the floor
on their hearts
which are still sore
soaring somewhere too close to the sun
Daedalus warned you, my son
your worries have just begun
this isn't something that you can outrun
there will always be someone
two, or three things,
puppets can’t do much while attached to strings
you can usually win the game with all 4 kings
and kids grow up afraid of bee stings
nobody to teach Icarus
that she has her own wings
because a king could lose everything
and still not have the same value as the 4 year old
girl who’s tutu is ripped
even before she gets to school
because the world is too cruel
its a 4 foot pool
with a diving board,
someone’s gonna end up
hurt.
Comic book rain never gets the page wet
if you don’t have an umbrella
you're all set.
No need to gas up the jet
Baby, you can go wherever you like.
Don’t box yourself in
it's better out there,
in a room that's just almost
a perfect square.
You can be a planet
I’ll be the planetarium,
painstakingly rectangular
please
always put pleasure first
when playing with people’s
Paper thin emotions.
A paper-thin commotion
Can set someone off
As needy as a dying iPhone battery
Berated all day for being burnt out
Blow that up
And see what barrage of banter will be
Waiting for you beyond the boredom
Of an automatic car
You gotta spice up your life a little bit,
Shift slow shift slow speed
Slow speed
Speed up
Don’t shout at me
Instead of saying what you should have said
Silence
Speak to yourself
Inside your spellbound head.
