When I was a child,
My mother was still learning
How to navigate traditions
Like Halloween.
My earliest Halloween memory
Is of my mother sewing
A superhero costume
From a pattern.
We used to live in a two-flat
Here, in Chicago,
On Devon Avenue.
I remember
Putting on the costume
For the first time.
My mother was downstairs
When she heard thudding footsteps
Of a small child running.
Thud-thud-thud
Boom!
Thud-thud-thud
BOOM!
My mother came upstairs
Alarmed at the noise
Only to collapse in laughter
When she saw me
Teaching myself
How to fly
In the family room.
Run-run-run
Jump!
Run-run-run
JUMP!
What’s funny is
I’m still teaching myself
How to fly.
But I’ve outgrown the cape.
D.H. Lee
