Talking of Michelangelo

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When Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles first came out, I was 16 and thought I was too old for it. A few years later, I met my fiancé—he was two years older than me and absolutely loved the Ninja Turtles! I remember thinking, “Maybe it’s time he grew up.” Then I remembered all the older women I knew who wore Disney and Winnie the Pooh and realized we all have our own ways of holding onto childhood. That realization inspired this poem, “Talking of Michelangelo”—a playful mix of T.S. Eliot and pop culture, about how we say goodbye to our youth, but never really leave it behind. TALKING OF MICHAELANGELO All the ways we said, “goodbye” to our childhood, teens, etc. Sometimes we wish we could go back- and yet, we all know better... In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael, too... Let us go then and learn ninjutsu When the evening is spread out against the sky, Let us go and make our visit… Through half-deserted streets, the whispering ooze, Of restless drains and flickering neon blues That lead us to the lair beneath the world- Where shells are burdened and destiny is swirled. The pizza box, the sai, the staff and sword, Lie waiting in the hush of sewer ward. Oh, do not ask, “What is it?” Let us go and make our visit. In the room the women come and go Talking of Michelangelo, Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael, too... And indeed there will be time To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?” Time to turn back and ascend the stair. To rise beyond the shadows where we played, To greet the dawn, though memories fade, And step into the world anew, unafraid. Now married to those women. Have you ever caught yourself judging someone for loving something “childish,” only to realize you do the same? What are the childhood things you or your loved ones still cherish?