Mail On Sundays (National Poetry Writing Month)
Had a great convo with my dawg Craig on Saturday, which led us to think about the people who live between the panels of Marvel Comics. He tried to push a Foggy Nelson poem idea on me, but this one stuck more in my consciousness.
Monday, bug-eyed men from under the earthIt needs a lot more sensory data, I'd like to brush against the family themselves more, but I was pleasantly surprised that I guessed a town to put him in -- Flats, Nebraska -- was surprisingly close to what Stan Lee originally intended. I can't tell if that's a testament to Stan's ability to convey what a person's about or my own intuitiveness. Fun to note, though. Maybe more on the present day and less background ... worth working on.
made me six minutes late
delivering Mrs. O'Leary's social security check.
Tuesday, that rascal Johnny swooped down and saved me
from a steely gray column of Doombots
blasting the Baxter Building's foundations.
Today might be quiet,
even though I can see weird vibrations
around the Gotham skyline from home.
Growing up in Glenville, Nebraska,
a flat spot off the 92
so tiny Google Maps can barely find it,
every day was like every other day.
Friday night you might catch a movie
if you could drive to Prairie Theatre in Ogallala
Maybe five hundred people lived in McPherson County
I was just another one
but I always wanted to do something special.
My dad got me a job at the post office
over in Arthur
which saw me putting down same seventeen flags
from graduation into my thirties.
Met Imogene when she ran out to the road
with some contest entry.
She won me, but always wanted that ceramic duck cookie jar.
That ol' sun crossed flat Nebraska plain time and again
Imogene and I just watched it,
holding hands on same porch I played on as a kid
My dad passed away and left me the place
while my kid brother Ted went to school at Columbia.
We were happy there,
holding hands and watching sunsets
until the cancer found her as wonderful as I did.
Not many world-class oncologists in McPherson County
so when Ted said we could stay with him
see some fancy New York doctor
I put in for a transfer that day,
surpising Imogene with that ceramic duck
in our new, cramped room.
My brother was probably too proud
to admit he needed help with his daughter Billie
but three months later we were both widowers,
little Billie was the lady of the house
and I started prowling the mail slots of Brooklyn.
Well, Ted died a few years later
and I needed some extra money to support a New York mortgage
so I took the Baxter Building route
and the rest is ... well, legend, if not history.
I've met despots
shaken hands with gods
seen worlds ending and heroes reborn.
I still eat cookies out of that duck, though.
It's a long way from Glenville, and yeah,
I don't know what to make of a lot of it
but I wouldn't have it any ... other ...
... hm. People flying around the penthouse.
Maybe I'll bring by the mail later on.
"My Name is Willie Lumpkin"
By Hannibal Tabu
No progress on the Wham!-inspired long form idea. It may be a short story after all. Have to think about that in May, if so.
Playing (Music): "Typical" by Mute Math
NOTE: Since this blog is automatically imported into my Facebook page, I apologize if you comment on it and I don't respond, as I am taking a sabbatical from social networking for 2010. So me not responding is not personal, I just won't see the comments ... until 2011. Maybe. Also including this disclaimer on blogs, but you're welcome to go to the blog itself and speak your mind, as I may look there ...
posted by Hannibal Tabu, The Operative at
12:12 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home