Black leather boots.
Black leather armbands.
Black cargo pants.
Green headband.
Green shirt.
I wake up
and stumble out of bed
to find my costume
waiting for me
on the bedroom wall.
Some people wear costumes
to disguise themselves
to hide themselves
to lose themselves
behind the mask
of someone else’s clothing
but my costume is my talisman
a tool to focus my attention
to transform myself
to reveal myself
to find myself
in clothes that I’ve designed
to express my vision
my passion
my power.
I am a Real Life Superhero
a modern day warrior
a pop culture paladin
wondering and wandering
across blacktop and cobblestone
forests and prairies
digital webs and social networks.
My comic book style
is my glamour, my spell
casting myself
as the hero of my own story
pledging myself
to the service of my community.
Sometimes
my life doesn’t make sense
and sometimes
the world doesn’t make sense
but the story of Treesong
Real Life Superhero
is a story that I write
with every choice that I make
and it makes more sense
with each passing day.
This is the story
of a young man
born in Chicago
raised in crumbling apartments
with broken walls
and roaches for roommates
and bullies for schoolmates.
This is the story
of a young man
who insisted in preschool
that he would be Superman
when he grew up.
This is the story
of a young man
pelted with stones
beaten with fists
shoved into lockers
and shipped out to the suburbs
only to have the process
repeat itself.
This is the story
of a young man
who found himself
in Southern Illinois
among the rolling hills
and towering oak
and swampy cypress
and countless other
flora and fauna
of the Shawnee.
This is the story
of a young man
whose found his voice
in defense of these woods
in defense of these people
in defense of all people
who call the Earth home.
This is the story
of a young man
whose flesh
was twisted and tortured
by the beatings of bullies
the aching drain of hunger
the searing sorrow of rejection
the bloodless bitterness of exhaustion.
And this is the story
of a young man
who has risen from the ashes
with a new name
a new costume
a new life
a life of service
to the land that saved him
to the people that surround him
to the principles of freedom and cooperation
that inspire him
to hope for a better tomorrow.
I am that man
and this is my story.
Some people laugh
at the thought of a
Real Life Superhero.
But stories have power
and I’ve discovered a story
that has the power
to change my life
and maybe even change the world
if only we let it.