Unmasked- Part II

Eternal Dream

In which the obituaries page loses a member, we learn some comic comic book life lessons, can’t help but stare at her legs, and realise there’s a fundamental flaw in our hero’s superpowers.

Mild-mannered Matthew
rough round the edges
sits atop a skyscraper
legs over ledges.
Sitting there staring
down on the heads and
the matchbox sized taxis and
the sidewalks they thread by.

Jeez.
Is he a brood!
Is he a pain!
Yeah, he's just super, man.

Mild-mannered Matthew
alone in the city
tossed from the tabloid
feels discarded and shitty.
Sitting there wallowing
in his self-pity.
How hard would the pavement
feel if he hit it?

Holy suicidal tendencies,
he's feeling bad, man!

Mild-mannered Matthew
ex-intrepid reporter
takes a deep breath
and thinks one last thought. Or,
so he supposes, but
he's instantly caught, a-
nother life saved by
man's lone supporter.

It's normally such a friendly neighbourhood,
it's just pure luck she spied the man.

The Incredible Dream Girl,
lands soft as a feather,
and puts the man down
and says to him 'Never,
give up on the here and now-
pain is temporary, death is forever.'
Then quick as a flash,
is gone in the ether
a lingering memory
of hair and red leather.

Flying away,
she watches her watch.
Man, she's got a few minutes spare.

The Amazing Dream Girl
returns with a start
the man still just standing there
restarting his heart.
With one stride of her hyperboots,
they're inches apart
for one slowmotion second
their lips lock,
there's a spark.

Forget my city, he thinks,
my heart screams.
She is my lover, and I am her spirit.

The Fantastic Dream Girl
takes a step back
defenceless before him,
open to attack.
She smiles a quick smile
his heart starts to crack
forgets his worries, his shortcomings
that he's been given the sack.
For that one fleeting moment
his life's still on track.

You don't want to make me love you,
You wouldn't like me when I loved you.

Mild-mannered Matthew
throws off his epithet
dusts off his fedora
he's not done with just yet.
With a glint in his eye
with his jaw set
he can still taste her on him,
hard as concrete,
the sweetness of sweat.

In brightest day, in blackest night
he dreams of her.

The Flawless Dream Girl
sits right where he sat
stares down at the pavement
the people like ants, that
wake and forget her
walk forward and back
they win and they lose
make love and mistakes.
She sighs, pulls her cape tight,
disappears in a snap.
The trouble with dream girls
is they are just that.

Originally published 2011.
Artwork by Chris Burrows @ www.the-walking-studio.com
Artwork by Fiona Burrows @ www.fionaburrows.com

In 2011 I gathered a group of artist friends from around Perth and asked for their help in illustrating my 5-part superhero poem Unmasked.

Originally, Unmasked was to be published as part of a series of zines by a small Perth literary magazine. Unfortunately, that magazine fell apart before our hard work got to see the light of day. I had a few copies printed and gave them to family and friends, but the full project was never fully realised.