Supervillain in Training
by Uche Ogbuji
Arch nemesis looks just like you—
At first glance twice as tall;
Through pregnant fog of elfin war
A doppelgänger brawl.
The bees the bees your tutors work
Their menace through the blooms;
We yelp in pain when lured to what
Romantic sight presumes.
Twenty teeth deciduous
And calculus in every bite;
All sweetness cleaving to your mouth
Accumulates like stalactite.
Your smile loops to a cursive ell—
We’ve all learned its complexity—
Your lush hair springs up from the scene,
Great mushroom cloud of ecstasy.
An uprock cyclone sweeps the room
With Style Wars on the parlor screen;
We dodge the rainbow shot of toys
Propelled by legs in floor routine.
No shadow we suppose for ghosts,
Except of course on Halloween;
Mom waves her trick-or-treaters out—
The poltergeist nips in between.
The serengeti christmas tree
Shades boxy prize of yawning prey;
Behind our backs the rustling trace
Of gifts you’ve spirited away.
You rob the crowds of agency
’Cause that’s where the achievement is;
Sweet waters in the still of life
Erupt into your sugared fizz.
The universal starting point
Was chaos in the stately spheres;
Your shrieking orbits turn back time
And concentrate the loaded years.
The hero myth is future sketch
Of holy big bang opposite;
Your essence is the every day—
A sun-stoked, creature-perfect fit.
