Iowa Writes

MICHAEL BLAND
Masked


I lie.
Greatest of all, virtually invincible,
I've fought hordes of robots,
alien invaders,
crazed supervillains and a host of other terrors.
I've saved damsels (a perk).
I've stopped earthquakes, protected rulers, and deflected
    asteroids.
I stand out as I do it, in bright swatches of skintight blue and
    red.
Yet I hide myself like the best magician
(although magicians can't bend train cars in half).
You adore me, buy my action figures and wish to be me.
But
at times I wish I were you,
true to those who befriend you, honest to those who love you.
Instead I hide behind a mask.
We all do.
We have to.
It's the price I pay to protect those I love.
And myself.
I am the greatest of all,
but don't be impressed, for
I lie.

About Iowa Writes

Since 2006, Iowa Writes has featured the work of Iowa-identified writers (whether they have Iowa roots or live here now) and work published by Iowa journals and publishers on The Daily Palette. Iowa Writes features poetry, fiction, or nonfiction twice a week on the Palette.

In November of 2008, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated Iowa City, Iowa, the world's third City of Literature, making the community part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.

Iowa City has joined Edinburgh, Scotland and Melbourne, Australia as UNESCO Cities of Literature.

Find out more about submitting by contacting iowa-writes@uiowa.edu


MICHAEL BLAND

Michael earned his bachelor's degree in finance from Indiana University.  He attended the Advanced Novel Writing and Novel: The Next Draft workshops at the University of Iowa in 2012 and 2013, where he studied with Susan Taylor Chehak and Sands Hall.  He's a banker by day and a writer by night.

This week we are celebrating Michael's "Superhero Poems": Hindsight, Masked, and Bring It.

This page was first displayed
on February 19, 2014

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