This poem started out as a few smaller poems and eventually made its way into this. It started from a discussion we were having in class about what comic book rain looks like and I thought "That would be a great title for something" Here is that something:

Comic book rain

doesn't really look like rain

it is just a bunch of lines that go this way

and some more lines that go this way

and out of context some might say

it is just a bunch of lines

but when the bunch of lines are on the paper

I know its rain

and you know its rain

and the little boy who’s read it 30 times

this morning

most certainly knows that it is rain.

But maybe a lot of things are like that

maybe a lot of things need some clouds

for context

and need something to land on,

imprint themselves upon,

maybe we’re all like that

needing each other to reassure ourselves that

we are actually real.

Because maybe we’re just all lines

like the yellow ones on the street

and maybe we need to get

repainted every few years as well

we repaint ourselves constantly

as if we will never run out of paint.

If everyone saw the same color blue in the sky

then everyone would be the same as you and I

there are some moments that everyone wants to die

their hair red

and move to the town that is cold most mornings

where no one heads the 6 am red sky warning

because they aren't up early enough in the morning

all of them eyes closed mourning

the hours that they will never see again

from the night before

on their cheek the imprint of the floor

on their hearts

which are still sore

soaring somewhere too close to the sun

Daedalus warned you, my son

your worries have just begun

this isn't something that you can outrun

there will always be someone

two, or three things,

puppets can’t do much while attached to strings

you can usually win the game with all 4 kings

and kids grow up afraid of bee stings

nobody to teach Icarus

that she has her own wings

because a king could lose everything

and still not have the same value as the 4 year old

girl who’s tutu is ripped

even before she gets to school

because the world is too cruel

its a 4 foot pool

with a diving board,

someone’s gonna end up

hurt.

Comic book rain never gets the page wet

if you don’t have an umbrella

you're all set.

No need to gas up the jet

Baby, you can go wherever you like.

Don’t box yourself in

it's better out there,

in a room that's just almost

a perfect square.

You can be a planet

I’ll be the planetarium,

painstakingly rectangular

please

always put pleasure first

when playing with people’s

Paper thin emotions.

A paper-thin commotion

Can set someone off

As needy as a dying iPhone battery

Berated all day for being burnt out

Blow that up

And see what barrage of banter will be

Waiting for you beyond the boredom

Of an automatic car

You gotta spice up your life a little bit,

Shift slow shift slow speed

Slow speed

Speed up

Don’t shout at me

Instead of saying what you should have said

Silence

Speak to yourself

Inside your spellbound head.