A poem for Mr. Wayne

This might end up over on Gotham City News once I figure out what exactly I want to do with it. The blog, I mean. Wrote it today at lunch, sitting in Battery Park, having completely forgotten I was supposed to be at the the dentist!

Gotham City Suite

Untitled, #1

somewhere in the city

when night blankets the streets

and evil comes out to play

a man with too much money

and too little hope

battles demons

real and imagined

he is neither cure

nor salve

merely a tourniquet

sacrificing limb for body

peace of mind for soul

his enemies are funhouse

reflections of himself

he often wonders

what that means

whether the weight of a fist

mangling flesh and bone

can truly silence the howls

if the stench of compromise

can overpower that of decay

if fighting fire with fire

is simply redundant

a cliche whose time has passed.

perched on a ledge

overlooking abbreviated youth

he studies the bloodstained alley

where he was born again

looking for a sign

to give up the fight

feels the stretch marks

across his shoulder blades

the weight of the world threatening

to split the hardened skin

he knows this city

like a death row convict

knows his cell

has paced its length and width

and lack of depth

has spilled his own blood

and that of others

has seen death’s grin

a million times over

and knows no other way

to live.

he could turn his back

leave it to others

hope they are up to the task

instead

he straightens to his full height

strains against the confines of his skin

and leaps into the night sky.

above

a shaft of light pierces the darkness

and rests against the clouds

somewhere in the city

he is needed.

Written by Guy LeCharles Gonzalez

Guy LeCharles Gonzalez is the Chief Content Officer for LibraryPass, and former publisher & marketing director for Writer’s Digest. Previously, he was also project lead for the Panorama Project; director, content strategy & audience development for Library Journal & School Library Journal; and founding director of programming & business development for the original Digital Book World.