Silver Screen Poem by Laurence Overmire

We take a little man
Somewhat more appealing than the rest
Blow him up 50 feet high
His face as big as a storefront window
A godlike Colossus to straddle
The straits of our inadequacy
Shoulders to carry our burden of failure
Champion of our dignity
Always honorable, never cheap
He makes us believe we are better than
We are
He fights when we need to fight
Feels when we need to feel
Thank God we never chance to meet him
Short and balding in the flesh, without make-up
Hear silly words, words that are his own
Not scripted out of myth
What a shock that would be
Why
We’d have to completely re-evaluate
Who we are
And what’s worse
Uncomfortably disillusioned
Find something else to do on Friday nights
That doesn’t require much

Thinking.


(Previously published in This Hard Wind, by EWG Presents, Oct.2002)