A Urgent Message for the Citizens of Metropolis
He won’t show you how
he loves you
………………………(please, wash his tights, still)
but watch, if you will, how the snake
population in your fair city dwindles,
lawns, sidewalks, thresholds
free from writhing, poison, ugliness.
His flight (from you) may appear closer, faster
in your mirror—the constant glare of tail lights
……………………..(red cape must be dry cleaned)
nothing more than a signal that the end is about to begin.
Men of steel, after all. Iron sharpens iron
……………………….(no need to iron the suit)
and your pink skin, though soft as serpent flesh,
dulls the blade of his desire
to do good, fight evil, wear hearts
of the weak on his sculpted bicep.
Stand firm in your resolve
to plod one more day
on your golden streets
……………………….(what he leaves behind is precious)
your hero will return in time for dinner.
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Another installment in the superhero series–light on the sex this time. Visit here or here to learn more! Really! Visit Carolee! She says it so well!
Note to self: Trying to convey the lonliness of marriage. Snakes & doe flesh don’t exactly work well together. Try different images… serpent flesh?
jillypoet 
oh god oh god. i was identifying with caroline ingalls but i am your june cleaver. thanks for being here, i think i’ll be back a lot.
I really like “dulls the blade of his desire…to do good”. Afraid I don’t exactly get the serpents. Like them, but don’t get them.
Yes, I was thinking the serpents might be too specific. Maybe insects/pests… some other kind of evil.
i like serpents b/c of the mention of snakes earlier. he slays snakes but the pink flesh of his lover/wife — though soft, implying easy to cut like the serpents — still dulls his blade. (oops. not “his” blade. “the” blade. tee hee.) i don’t think that’s where the slight confusion is. i think it’s in not seeing the wife as the exception to his abilities — why she’s so tough for him. maybe we need to know more so we see the contrast?
it was wonderful hearing you read this at the open mic. the last line really warms it up.