CNN says Turks have seized the country’s
largest newspaper & Syrian troops have conquered
the neighborhoods of Aleppo. In a suburb
of Nashville today, my cousin decides
between spending her tax return on a thigh
tattoo or a spa day. My neighbors squabble about vinyl
siding.  I clip coupons for pot pies, detergent

& frozen pizza. Two days since a 15-year-old
tramped into a cafeteria in Benton — 50 miles
down the road — & sprayed
bullets into 14 classmates. Like a deadly
Black Mamba I want to attack this brutality —  bite, bite,

bite it in rapid succession until I transform into
a 500-year-typhoon with three superpowers. Wham. The Big One,
9.6 on the Richter.  Bang. Pow. Kaboom. We make
the change & I call in my crew.  I have one power,

Batman says. I never give up. On Facebook my friend
Tracy posts:  I’m not OK. Can anyone help?  A white
supremacist has shot her first her cousin Vicki
dead in a grocery store parking lot. What can
I give her? My anger as fiery & robust as a rocket
booster? My will to act? Tracy, my team is here & we’re

on our way to Louisville. Wolverine bellows,
If you cage the beast, the beast
will get angry. Catwoman purrs,
Before I put on this mask,
I was afraid of everything.
Wonder Woman spits,
How dare you?