Because he thinks he can fly
Up past the clouds
A flying saucer
And constellations
Blueberry colored stars
That form a circle
But never touch
A kid is a kid
And a boy
And he wears a Superman costume
Because he wants to fly
But he wears a Batman mask
Because he wants to hurt people
And Superman can’t
But Batman can
If Batman could fly
That would be his favorite superhero
So he makes his own superhero
And calls himself—
--Dark Sky
Downstairs on the tv
They say they’re looking for heroes
And his dad irons a shirt
While his mom practices kickboxing
In the garage
A quiet house
Cannot produce greatness
The little voice tells him
Go back down
You can’t fly
Nobody can
You can’t just have heroes
Because you want them
Because you need them
It doesn’t work that way
There’s a bruise on his arm
From where he punched himself
And it felt bad and good
To hurt and to be hurt
To be the cause and the effect
A kid stands up on a roof
And the wind catches his cape
And helps it kiss his neck
He reaches out his hands and says—
If this is a dream
I can fly
And you never know you’re in a dream
While you’re in one
So who’s to say it’s not?
A neighbor mows the lawn
A dog barks
A tree branch cracks
A little girl cries
Then nothing
He steps to the edge
And his mother stops punching her punching bag
And looks up
At the ceiling in the garage
She knows that her child is about to do something stupid
Even before he does
His father gets the last wrinkle out of a shirt
And then he feels a pang in his right shoulder
That will turn into a heart attack
Seventeen years from now
The kid toes the edge
With his sneaker
And then the little voice says—
All children are built with a self-destruct button
And on the button
It says
Fly
The kid imagines pushing the button
He imagines a life of unique opportunity
And travel
And pool water skies
Grabbing each star of the saucer constellation
And bringing them together
So they can finally touch
He takes the little voice off his shoulder
Puts it in his pocket
And jumps
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