jonberger

Think of it:

you’re born with the ability to wish what you want
but you don’t know you have that ability
and you’re raised in a house absent wealth
absent security
absent many of the basic needs.

You could imagine anything you desire
but who could imagine that they have that ability?
So you live in poverty
live destitute
until somebody suggests to you
the merest possibility of what you can do
and you begin to believe in yourself
and you start to get wise to the reality
you can create with a snap of your fingers.

You start making things happen
all around you.
Things that are good for you
bad for others.
Then things that are good for more folk
because you feel better about yourself
and you want to spread the love
and in so doing you recognize more
of what you’re capable of again
and the power within grows
and you get a real sense
of the fantastic.

This is you.
This is everyone, really,
but this is mostly you
because you’re especially special.
You.

Some of their supernatural abilities
are like each other’s.
Piotr’s steel skin protects him
like Gunther’s force field
or Hisako’s psionic projection
or even Fred’s incredible fat.

They’ve all built defenses to survive
in pretty similar ways
that look excitingly different.

You can mix and match them
if you want.
Some people do.

I find they tend to repel each other
that like and like
mostly are in different places
or different sides.
Isn’t that just the way
or does it just seem
to be written like that?

He used to be able to make slushies at will
but things have changed.
Now he can sheath the planet in ice
if he wishes.
he can become an army
of ice warriors
and control them in combat carriers
careening against competitors.

Serious power up for this kid.
He’s invulnerable
he’s eternal
if he wishes.
He’s old man winter now.
He’s changed a lot in his super-hero history
from the youngest, faceless, blandest
in a team of lookalikes
to an invincible elemental gay god
and it’s only getting more interesting from here.

It was not easy
but when he could get away
from the pressures of prying eyes
he could release his bonds
and remove his shirt
and then he let go and fly.

People couldn’t see.
They would never allow that,
to see him rise above them
pumping into the air
high above them
rising beyond what they could ever do.
It would never go over.

Insulated as he was
they would shatter him in moments.
His wealth would not protect him
his beauty would not save him.
His wings would be torn from him immediately
and he’d be struck upon a cross if they ever knew

so he had to be careful about where he flew.
It was only on family property
with special staff who could be trusted
and electronics-damping equipment on.
Money could handle a great deal
of what was necessary
but self-control was still required.

It was not easy,
but the times he could get away
to be free and soar to the heavens
were well worth it.

Being born warped was badbut not as bad as being born a Mortimer.
He could make something of himself
with his abilities, but his name?
That would doom him forever.

Mortimer found himself craving attention
and felt little for himself
so sought big figures to take care of him.
He joined organizations
that might not have had his interests in mind.

Little Morty had skills that kept him in great
with groups up to no good.
The little man strong-armed for respect.

Surprisingly, it worked for everyone involved
and the weird boy had some kind of happiness.

It wouldn’t last long.
Crews like Mort’s didn’t have a way of lasting
and they fell apart
and soon after, so did our guy himself.
Without a community, what was he?
What could he call himself
without anyone to bolster him?
M still has no answer for that.

He thinks he was the first of a great many thingsbut he’s not.

The first sea-born/land-born hybrid?
Hardly.

The first mutant?
Not by millennia.

The first super-powerful villain to ever attack the world?
Probably not the first to attack Manhattan
– though perhaps the loudest.

He is probably the most brazen
in a great many categories
the most powerful
in some others
but he is not the power he thinks he is
the original he thinks he is.
Of course

that can be said for so many others as well.

He knows when you’ve been sleeping.He knows when you’ve been bad.
He knows everything he wants to.
He is fucking aware
but with so many people to keep tabs on
what makes you think he is thinking about you?

There’s a world out there to look in on
why would you be so interesting?
He’s a busy man, ma’am,
why’re you gonna hold his interest?

He could be controlling the minds of presidents
make superstars act out his psychodramas
or have businesses make deals in favor of the people.
He could do anything.
Why is Charles Xavier considering you?

It hasn’t worked for us.
We keep trying to break up
but we just can’t make it click.
Every time it’s like a rubber/glue scenario
where the wishes bounce off and stick,
bounce off and stick
bounce off and stick.

So far we’re stuck together
our parts aligned.
Our desires are disconnected,
lives disinclined.
We want to be apart
but we’re too entwined.
We can’t yet separate
my stuff from thine.

Here we stay stagnating
in the same art game
we’ve played for years it’s famous
we could try for something new. It’s lame
that we are still bedevilling each other.
It’s just wrong. It’s the song old same.

This pain we cause ourselves;
is there something here?
Is it really what we seek
or is it what we fear?
We circle separation
but cannot reach that sphere.
All that I realize is that
I cannot leave you dear.

If there was somebody for everybody,
if there was somebody for everyone
if there was somebody for everybody
then maybe there’s someone for me!

If there was a justiful God
who practiced His justice on earth
then everybody would have someone to love
and life would be joyous and worthy!

If there was somebody for everybody,
if there was somebody for everyone
if there was somebody for everybody
then maybe there’s someone for me!

If love can be found in the apps
and love can be found in the bars,
then maybe I can discover someone
in Classical Greek seminars.

If there was somebody for everybody,
if there was somebody for everyone
if there was somebody for everybody
then maybe there’s someone for me!

But the world isn’t made that way – No!
The alphas get more than their share.
They get their pick of the pack
and they take far more than a pair.

If there was somebody for everybody,
if there was somebody for everyone
if there was somebody for everybody
then maybe there’s someone for me!

So maybe there’s nobody out there.
And I guess that’s just fine for me
‘cuz they say that the moment you stop in your search
is the moment that you finally see.

If there is somebody for everybody,
if there is somebody for everyone
if there is somebody for everybody
then maybe there’s someone for me!

I went straight home after school.
Looking back, it probably wasn’t so bad.
There weren’t many things to see outside.
What I missed was no big deal for a lad.

I got home, got down to homework, or teevee
or comic books or some other kind of fun.
Just me and the shadows and the locks.
There wasn’t anyone.

It was some kind of latchkey life back in those grade school days
when I got home at three oh seven. Always.
I would call my mother at her job after locking the door
and I’d let her know that I was safe forevermore.

Out of my mother’s window I could look down
and I could see a nearby building’s small park.
It was semi-fenced in, but a lot of the neighbor kids
would congregate there and hang, well after dark.
I might recognize the shapes of boys and girls from school
but it was far too far away for me to shout
but there might be a point where I did not
go home after school and could stay out.

Back in the grade school days, when I was young you know
I was living that total kind of latchkey life.
When I raced to get home to call my Mom and calm her down.
With fear for safety, those days were certainly rife.