Saturday, July 10, 2021

three foot tall batman

when my son was about four
or five
he threw a tantrum when i wouldn't
buy him
a thirty dollar
illustrated book about batman.
he already owned everything
they ever sold
about the caped crusader.
everything but this enormous
magazine.
he was wearing his
batman costume at the time,
shredded from
wearing it 24/7 around the house,
to the playground,
the grocery store and to the beach.
he screamed and yelled
as i picked him up to carry him
out of the store.
his cape flew up in the breeze.
i told him to calm down, relax.
how about a happy meal, i asked him,
trying to persuade him
to settle down.
instead he screamed even louder
staring at me behind the mask, 
his brown eyes tearing
inside the batman cowl
and said.
i still love you dad, i'm just
mad at you.

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