Extraordinary Boy
When the future star was sweeping cereal dust
upon weathered wooden floors
he knew this push-broom life was not his
Brave soldiers and dashing lovers
charming spies and magnetic saviors
giant heroes on a screen
these were his people
and in darker moments his friends
beckoning from a distant place
where corn was found in the polished aisles of the supermarket
and in endless regiment rows outside a frosty window
Too beautiful to stay
Too beautiful
Songs that made him cry played in his head
and he could not say why
He wondered if it was possible to be an extraordinary boy
and never grow old
The corn reached higher,
yearning for heaven and then it was gone
like the magic of youth
going
going
always going
until only space lived where once proud plants stood erectly at attention
brave soldiers and dashing lovers all