The Green Lantern

The first line is the hardest,
so why not abandon it
and start as John Coltrane, in the middle,
moving two directions at once?
In this way my life begins at thirty,
as darkness collapses on the metropolis.
I prowl the alleys, alone, an innocent amongst monsters.
I am Green Lantern, the opulent hero.
I can hardly leave the house without testing the power of my ring.
My giant green hand.
Tonight, I fly amongst a night-blue sky in which
two or three other superheroes drift.
They say the only thing that hurts me is wood.
Then why do I feel so devastated, as I lean my head
into the super-hero filled air?
Perhaps the work I've done this evening is still alive,
filling me with doubt.
Perhaps the chill in the air is not in the air,
but my bones.
Do I really trust my powers, in the end?
Sooner or later, I find myself
desiring a long nap on a wooden bench.
My wonderful life, always about to begin.
John Coltrane often played the same chord
three or four different ways in the same measure.
At daybreak, I return home, mildly drunk,
oddly luminescent in my green street pajamas.