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Poetry is just the evidence of life. If your life is burning well, poetry is just the ash. Leonard Cohen

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Hero

My childhood hero wasn't from the pages of a comic book
or the Saturday morning cartoons
     although I did keep some comics around
          (but mostly because I really wanted those sea monkeys advertised in the back)
    and I did watch some cartoons
         (because my brother and I were bored and School House Rock was cool)
My first childhood hero was Holden Caulfield
         The Catcher In the Rye
As I read, I realized
     I wasn't alone
For the first time, fiction
     Validated me
The Catcher In the Rye caught me 
     right as I was at the edge
     and I held on tight.

15 comments:

Brian Miller said...

nice...mine was fantasy novels...Tanis half-elf...bastard son...

Brent Wescott said...

Very nice. Holden is the ultimate teenage hero. Unfortunately, I try to get students to read Catcher these days and only a few seem to think so any more.

Rachel Hoyt said...

Cool poem! I'm embarrased to admit this, but... I never read it. :(

My name WAS Female, I shit you not! said...

Whatever inspired you to write.....
I'M ALL FOR IT!
What a GIFT you have. :0)

Isabel Doyle said...

keep flying! great response

Anonymous said...

I was like this with On the Road. I think my first crush was Dean Moriarity. Then as I grew older I wanted to BE Dean. Holden was a good buddy in those days too. Looking back they all feel like old friends I once knew. This is such a great piece.

JustRex said...

I think my first childhood hero was Tom Swift. He could invent anything. And Schoolhouse Rock is still one of my favorites. I have all of those on DVD.

Eileen T O'Neill ..... said...

Lolamouse,
A very fine appreciation of your favourite piece of reading. Nicely shared thoughts.

Eileen

Sherry Blue Sky said...

I so love this. A book character that really spoke to me when I was thirteen was Francie in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. And the little girl in To Kill a Mockingbird. Really resonated with this poem. Books rock.

Nicole said...

Love The Catcher in the Rye, almost as much as I LOVED the idea of sea monkeys.

Pat Tillett said...

In my screwed up childhood, my main escape was reading. The more I read, the less I had to deal with my own life. I read "The Catcher in the Rye" at an age when I couldn't really understand it. I was still amazed and read it again years later.
Great post Lola...

JustRex said...

Even though it was a great book in it's own right, every time I think about "catcher" I think about Mel Gibson in "Conspiracy Theory" and his fascination with the book.

Christine said...

My comic book was the Myth adventures series, medieval fantasy is always fun.

Ella said...

I enjoyed this and I so wanted sea monkeys! My neighbors actually got them; I was so happy I could at least see them! I think I need to read this one again~

Brent Wescott said...

@ darev: The mention of Catcher in Conspiracy Theory had something to do with the fact that the guy who shot John Lennon (whatever was his name) was carrying a copy. See, it was a conspiracy against Lennon, or something like that...