Doctor Doom And A Poem

Doctor Doom is standing atop my computer work station as I upload this blog. Fortunately, he is only four inches tall, made of plastic and came out of a Burger King Fun Meal. Still, it was deju vu seeing him at my computer and I wondered which one of my twenty-something boys would have acquired it. Turns out that my older son's girlfriend's mother gave it to him. She bought the fun meal, trying to stay slim, which I understand she very much is--a diet tip for you health conscious out there.

Eventually, I believe Doctor Doom will end up here in a Tupperware container labeled "Action Figures" in a bureau down the basement. As I browse here, I see Ninja Turtles, Superman, Ghostbusters, Snoopy, Big Bird, Transformers, GI's, and many more I can't identify. Why the collection? Good question. It's not that I expect a run on E-Bay or anything like that. Or that in a few years grandchildren will be clamoring for them. Maybe it has more to do with a poem I wrote after cleaning the garage a few years back (something I don't do often enough). Since I haven't shared a poem in a while, here 'tis:

OLD TOYS

Rusty training wheels, the dusty Pooh bear,
One boy's football helmet, all abandoned there.

A toy soldier, some linking blocks--there's many more,
just ahead of my broom, in the garage, on the floor.

I hesitate, wander back and it seems to me
that it wasn't so long, there were under a tree

Now a dad who was warned they grow up too fast
tries hard to remember when old toys were played with last.

When that helmet was worn by the toddler in the yard;
when that soldier over the treehouse stood guard.

When Pooh lay with many stuffed friends gathered for bed.
Now they're all gone or gathering dust instead.

How I wish they were fresh and in small hands again
when we were young, before boys became men.

So I look down and ponder to say
that it's time to throw these old toys away.

But I wonder if the memories too will die
if there's not an old toy for me to happen by.

So I find them a corner, where they all can stay
As I tell myself, "No, can't be today."