Batman Sleeps with a Nightlight
(From The Triumph of Strife: an homage to Dante Alighieri and Percy Shelley)

The fanboy fascist, Prince of Gotham geek,
Up late at night, both hands beneath the sheets;
His Batman Bible urging him to seek

An ideal evil that he never meets:
A super villain menacing his race
Within his fearful chest a faint heart beats;

Vicarious, it ticks a timid pace
His vaguely apprehended angst demands
Revenge for all the acne on his face,

Exacted by some super hero's hands
While safe at home, a nightlight by his bed,
Imaginary navies he commands:

A vigilante fleet launched in his head
That cut and ran before the fight he fled

Michael Murry, "The Misfortune Teller," Copyright 2006