I remember you were
Out blasting
GI Joes in the backyard
Small mounds and ditches
In the soft
Fertilized dirt.
Tiny, plastic “walkie-talkies”
Sprawled across the green lawn
And were thrown to the
Bottom of the pool.
GI Joe:
Every Generation Needs a Hero
A Real American Hero
Written on boxes and
Yelled to the sky
Then the lieutenants were boxed up
And hidden.
And for your birthdays
You received light sabers
And Yoda figurines.
We were treated to viewings
Of The Phantom Menace
On vacation at the summer casa
In Mexico
And in the den of a past house.
“May the force be with you,”
You always told Annalese
And I sitting on the floor
Painting our nails
Not know what it meant or
Even caring
After that it was Lord of the Rings
I’m pretty sure at least
I remember the little figurines
And you painting
And collecting
And playing
And working so hard
To find some more warrior
Gnomes.
There were sleepovers out in the hall
“Ten o’clock isn’t that late,”
And games of Castle and
Guess Who with Madison.
Around this time
We took a trip to Las Vegas
(One of my favorite trips
even in my short history)
You taught me to do a climber’s knot
On the railing in our room
And how to pull my sleeve over my hand
So I never got shocked
By the heavy metal Parrot
Serving as a doorknob
To the Casino.
A limo ride down the strip
Madison dropping her ball of ice cream
And you picking it up,
Dusting the bottom off
And plopping the ice cream back
Onto her cone
Sending Annalese and I into hysterics
when she resumed eating
the Mint Chocolate Chip
Soon you were in your
Undefined stage
That didn’t come
Attached to a movie
Or show.
We would romp around in
The sprawling olive trees
In Grandma and Papap’s
Backyard
Looking generally crazy
In last year’s Batman costume
And the “Crocodile Dundee”
Skirt that belonged to the 80’s.
We went jumping into trees
Then jumping back out
Building forts then
Tearing them down
Premiering shows then running away laughing
Next it was computer games
The Sims and war games
Videos I wasn’t allowed to see.
That’s when you had braces
A full mouth of shiny metal
Leaving me envious every time
We brushed our teeth.
The best part about this phase?
Shipwreck Rapids rides and
Cotton candy covered hands
Walking the paths of Sea World
Begging for more
Candy and to stay
Just fifteen minutes longer.
The next thing I knew
You were well into being a
Teenager
A feat I had never thought possible
Looking at you
As my cousin
And my friend
You liked football and
Tough guys
That ran around a field chasing after
One poor guy
The one who was given the ball.
Then, great fruitcake
You were one of them!
Coming to Christmas lunch
With huge scars
And gashes in your legs
Baba always told you
“Roll out! You should just roll out!”
And to this day
I still don’t understand what he was
Saying.
For a while
I remember a possible surfboard
And you receiving money
To buy a big longboard
Just like the one at your camp.
I’m not sure if you ever
Went to buy the surfboard
But I’m sure you tried.
Remember our Yosemite
Camping trip?
Big Mamma Trucker to
Little Mamma Trucker
“Come in! Come in!
Do you copy?!”
We shouted into the walkie-talkies
Held in our toasty hands
Looking out at the frozen terrain
For right now
And maybe longer
You are a movie artist
Filming then editing
Trying to make things come together
Perfectly, and make a great scene.
And I’m as proud as I was
When you were a tough footballer
And a Jedi
And even a commando (although,
I received more than enough GI Joe
Limbs being blown into my face that I
Probably shouldn’t think that)
And as you leave
Eagerly ready to start the next
Stage of your life
I can only give you one thing
Okay well two things
My luck,
And your phrase back
Reece, May the force be with you.
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