Anti-heroes and Menschen

So can one be tough and good?

 

Anti-heroes and Menschen

Can one hold no prisoners
shout “Never Again!”
and be a well-loved mensch
or the salt of the earth?

Can men of action
at the center
of a self-possessed universe
be our lovable heroes?

Witness Aveh* as
his neck cords bulge crimson,
teeth bared in challenge;
blind with rage and the thrill of the kill,
his black booted foot
bearing down
on his foe’s naked spine.

“I’ll break you”
he screams and spits,
grasping the last Wii
aloft in blood-splattered fingers,
triumph joining rage
in the lines of his face.

Can Aveh be our salty friend,
the one we send to battle
to keep the world honest,
the one we love and count on?

And what if Charlie Brown,
our lovable mensch,
lost his cool and not his clothes
when the batter hit the baseball?

What if Charlie
kicked Lucy in the head
while screaming “never again you jerk!”
when she pulled away the football?
Would we love him as much?

Can we love our damaged models,
our Super Anti-Heroes
when they cross that line of decency?

Can we love our athletes, actors, lovers
when perfection’s a thin disguise?

Can we love each other
on bad days and good ones,
when we grow mental muscles
and do what we could not
or when we shrink from each challenge,
retreat from each fight?

Can we love ourselves
for all of our flaws
when we bark at the dog
or kowtow to bullies,
on days when we’re kind
when to be kind’s absurd,
and even on days
when we bite the hand that reared us
and lose all sense of honor?

Can we love our good and our bad
our tough and our soft
and agree that we're whole?

*From an earlier poem “Creation’s Opposite”

Reviews

[Thomas Dylan]

I'm going to keep reading this David, because the poem gives me a feeling that I understand fully its theme, but I'm not sure I understand it completely. If you can follow my thread(not sure that I can). LOL. HUNGOVER, you see- Sunday morning.
And that is OK, because poetry should be challenging, something to be argued over and debated. Otherwise there wouldn't have been books written about 'The Wasteland', or articles written about 'Desolation Row' and other Bob Dylan songs.
But this is good; it has characters in it to create interest, it has a punchy ending, it's well structured and well expressed.

[C. Harter Amos]

This isn't an easy poem. It digs at a part of us that is hard to come to grips with, but here I think is where the heart of humanity is born. Maybe it is the Janus in us all that makes us try harder not to 'bite the hand', or perhaps it keeps us from becoming the bully ourselves. Well written as your pieces always are. Thank you. - Mimi.

[PianoandPage]

wasn't sure how i felt about this piece at first but by the middle and all the way to the end it really hit me hard.

my favorite line - "Can we love our athletes, actors, lovers
when perfection's a thin disguise?"

although your stanza on charlie brown is classic.

[W Alt. Burns]

i think it depends where we are in life. right now, i think what michael vick did was heinous but i cant much get myself to care about it being a tragedy in the hero sense. but as a kid i had everything pete rose. i emulated his play. and then he let me down and i havent ever forgiven him. good writ. thanks for stirring me up to think on this.

[J. Hampton]

A provocative piece !!!
Poses very good questions...
Can our heros make that comeback in our heart?
Can they fall and get up again?....all the way up ?
Some fun contemporary finishes within.

I like this one
Blesssssss

[Mike P.]

Well I am no fan of loving everyone but this poem is great for an introspective experience. We all do make mistakes. As long as the person making the mistake is not an a*****e and is a habitual "mistake maker" than who is to cast the first stone? I think this piece is great and it attacks arrogance from all directions. Very powerful yet simplistic and to the point. I have to keep this for reflection and further scrutiny. Way to go.
6

[Antony]

This makes me think of that saying, " Whats good for the goose is good for the gander" the real question, are we strong enough to forgive all?
Tony

[Nathan Strange]

a thought provoking masterpiece! I liked this, it makes us think deeper about ourselves. I feel tired and half dead right now, i can't even love myself.

[Self-esteem]

It made me think, very well said!

[Gandré]

Hello David, sorry for answering your reading rq so late. But I am here: smile. You wrote here something on humanity. The world system of states also is found inadequate because it is disfigured by war. Some of "anti heroes" judge the state far preferable to anarchy, especially in modern political circumstances. I wrote a similar poem. I thought that is similar - the building questions. interesting. great poem. thx for seinding.

[Barry S. Maltese]

Average people make mistakes. If any mistake is made without mallace, then we accept it as being human. When a person accepts a role of autority, or centered focus, then they must live to a high standard. The word mallace can never enter a description of their personality.
Barry Bonds has polarized many baseball fans by refusing to disprove allegations of Steroid use. Many refuse to accept his new Homerun record. As someone who is placed in a rolemodel sittuation he owes it to his fans to keep his name clean. He owes it to America to clear his reputaion.
Great thought provoking write!!!