Modern Day Superheroes

By Swadha Rawat

 

Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels

Our generation

Grew up watching Superman take flight over film reel

And flipping the worn pages of Iron Man comics.

Hearing cries of “Avengers Assemble”

And dreaming of bat mobiles that rumbled through smoky streets.

Recalling tales of super human legends:

Of Hercules’s Labours that numbered twelve

And Vishnu’s popular incarnations that ten times here dwelled.

Today, though

People are piled up in hospitals

Coughing fits, and shivers,

Ventilators, blankets and bodies clutter the halls.

You and I, most likely,

Are sequestered in our homes, hands slathered with sanitizer

And watching the tally on our phones.

On the frontlines, today,

There dwell, modern day, real superheroes

More alive than any of our books or movies or dusty tales of old.

Helping others breath

At the expense of their own.

In the light bleached corridors and

The creaking metal beds of the hospital floor,

Beeping monitors and rapidly beating hearts.

Kind eyes blinking away tears,

Crinkling behind protective gear.

Yes, real super heroes don’t dress in red capes

Or fancy boots or skin tight elastane.

Real super heroes wear face masks

And blue gowns, white coats

And yellow hazmat suits.