Wonder Woman

"Don't you ever hit our children!"

is what she
commanded him-
the final straw
that paralyzed
the camel
once he struck us,
this brash act
was too much for Keim.



Tears cascade
off each cheek
to melt our floor
like wax
which cries
from the candle.



She reached a breaking point
arguments never seethed to this peak
before she, met matrimony
then birthed and nurtured his seeds
He showed no signposts
of violence or instability.



Wrapping me in her arms
My sister, clasping her leg
started 4-door Ford contour
"We're getting faraway from Daddy..."
that's all she said.


Latching my brother's hand
he was 8 years my senior
still neither he nor
my 4-year old little big sis
could comprehend why
we were leaving.



Suppose black-blue backs
busted lips, scraped
kneecaps could justify
an escape hatch- but just as
she asked "Please, let go of Paul’s cape
honey, he didn't mean that"




Because he would raise
hand if ever we disobeyed
or dream to back-speak
though I was too young
two was an age he said
"You better learn to respect me"


Reprimanding, he saw
these acts as love-
“Oh, it won’t hurt to spank
It toughens up…”
but real men know to be firm
without doing damage.



Our auburn-haired protector,
secretly snatched keepsakes
in this Christian Prison
from which, silently, we’d break
waiting for the day when
he'd leave, we could sneak away


Four-foot 9 guardian
uprooting 3 hearts from the Garden
state Parkway North
to this safe haven
named 'Newark'
where we could sprout
no miracle grow now, 'least
nobody here to harm them.



"I'll slit your throat, you ever
think of leaving home" something
he'd haplessly joke
Now she'd elope with the kids
and hope he'd never
lash out as proposed.


She shoulders the load
raising three on her own
help from Aunt Jo- lots of
love and assists from
Grandma Anna, yet in my
eyes it was tough task,
to learn to be a man as only
women surround you.


See, I idolized heroes
Superman, Batman, Flash-
anything but reality
to make up for a father I lacked
This rationality
gave me something to mold myself
after, some figure
I could craft as my guardian-
flying in, to save the day
keeping me safe.




Mom bites the bullet,
extracting the wounds
for her brood, not too soon
I see she up and left before
we could ever become
irreparably bruised

A family tree, I never knew
as one piece...
Split down its core,
was always natural to me
A fissure since my memory
formed- the day I hit three
the very same age we’d up,
divorce, and suddenly flee.


She'd teach me to be a man,
by example- you never stand
for abusive or baneful ways
rather castrate myself
than bash my woman’s brains…
Told my sister to know her ownworth
never let a man control her,
own her or hostage-hold her


To my entire life, I owe her

though my children will never know her
my first wedding song- can’t dance or hold her
yet still, I feel her own words-
“Remain faithful, be true.
Treat your wife how you want
her to treat you…and remember
don’t let your demons control you”




Mom, I’ll never stray
from a path you paved
'cause although I rarely pray
in your own way
due to what you stood for,
you always were
and remain this day
my sole true superhero-
flying on high



You, my guardian,
Angel.













(c)Paul LaTorre 2010