I remember when I was first introduced to the Caped Crusader, well not exactly

I remember when I was first introduced to my version of the Caped Crusader

If fathers are every daughter’s first love

Is it fair to say that fathers are every son’s first Superhero?

Our Superman 

 

I remember when I believed you were invincible

You may not have been able to lift a train or airplane

But you could easily raise me up in the air until I felt like I was flying 

You may not have been able to leap a building in a single bound

But you stepped over obstacles that I viewed as mountains with ease

Plus you could see over the roof of the car

My Superman 

 

When you weren’t Superman you were Clark Kent

In glasses heading to your normal office job, but I knew the truth

Business casual was only the shell casing

You were a business leader, cut hair, played ball, fixed cars, you name it

A jack of all trades. Funny how they say I am the same way now

I even wear glasses to work 

Superman in Training

 

Plus, you were the fun parent. Mommy always seemed so frustrated and angry

She must not have known that if you seemingly ran away from a responsibility

It was to save the world in some other way

She just didn’t understand that you were a Man

THE Man, THE Superman

 

But the interesting thing about Superman is that on his native planet he was just normal

The interesting thing about Superheroes is that just like Santa, and the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy, you eventually learn that their powers are not real 

Sometimes their whole being is not

The interesting thing about pedestals is that the taller you grow, the objects on them become less above you

And you are forced to look them in the eye

Our Superman

 

The more time I spend eye-level with you 

The more your powers over my opinion of you seem to diminish

This is not to say that I do not appreciate the blessing of your presence

Endless support and efforts

I guess I just started to realize the limit of your strengths

When did Superman become so weak that he could not lift the veil of his ego?

Or is the weight of hypocrisy like the gravity on your home planet

Reducing your powers to bigotry

 

You sent me a text message recently about judgment, righteousness, and justice from Proverbs

You told me it is only the job of God to judge

So how is it that you have passed judgment on your own daughter and made the ruling that her life is not fit for your graces

Ryann is Gay, get over it, and it’s not a choice, but your neglect to love her wholeheartedly is

To me a righteous action would be too have a conversation to understand her

Not once in 30 years have you tried

Apparently acceptance and understanding are Superman’s actual Kryptonite

My only question is would you, the Caped Crusader, have joined the Crusades back in the day to murder her and consider it Justice

Our Superman

 

The sad thing is, I was beginning to feel in recent years that our relationship had truly improved

But in actuality, it’s only because you don’t ask me what motivates me internally

You sprinkle scriptures and hope for the best

And I’m not sure if you leave it alone because you know that I will not agree, or because you want to remain in an emotional fortress of heavy elements

I don’t think that’s what they meant about being a man of steel

My Superman

 

The one thing I do agree with is that you taught me about manhood

That true men possess the foresight to look ahead and prevent catastrophes

But it feels like Superman can see through walls but cannot look at his reflection in a mirror

Can’t you see that I don’t need Superman captain-save-a-soul

Maybe I just need Clark Kent to want to investigate and care about our story 

While he’s at it, have him help me find the moment when I stopped believing 

My Superman

 

I remember when I believed you were invincible

You may not have been able to lift a train but trained me to be a great man

You may not have been able to leap a building in a single bound

But could teach me to leap the hurdles of division and love my blood because they are my blood

On so many occasions you acted as the Man of Steel

The stronghold for our livelihood 

But this is the time to be malleable 

Because one day, I may have to be the next Caped Crusader 

And who better to learn from than Superman

My Superman