Pablo Neruda and the Supersonic Rocket Ship

I

Sometimes my accent goes a little off and I have to shake myself like a coughing radio and pray the syllables align. Sometimes they don’t, and then

GOTCHA!

People look at me funny.

"Ru-ru-ru-run back to where I came from!"

But where are you really from?

I am from, well, my mother's womb!

Ha, you didn’t see that coming did you? Neither do the villagers when Ma comes! Show them Ma, show them your talent!

Do you see her running?

There she comes, her lean body with iron-toned arms and taut calves, running the 100m relay, the fastest in her school and against all odds winning GOLD in her district!

Thundering applause!

Take a bow Ma! Give them a wave!

She really is the best! The No. 1 track and field athlete in her school!

She is recruited for the Nationals and graduates to long-distance running, the one where you have to run across the entire oval track!

But there’s a tiny problem.

It’s me.

Her belly is bulging and she doesn’t like it. She tries to focus on the race but I am inside her punching and kicking.

I want to get out and watch Ma win!

I am inside screaming!

Ma is outside screaming!

Her water breaks.

Push!

Push!

Push!

the stadium chants

Ma cries with exhaustion on the running track as she is squeezing me out. Then she suddenly stops. There is a moment of pin-drop silence. Everyone is at the edge of their seats.

Woosh and I am out! Plopped onto the red-clay, a wet bag of fat and cartilage, huffing and puffing! I AM OUT!

Thundering applause!

All for Ma! Take a bow Ma!

I stand and turn around to hug Ma with all my might! But where is she? Ah, she has resumed her sprint.

"You are going to cost me the race!”, Ma is upset.

"I am so sorry Ma. I promise I will do better next time."

“It’s alright sweetie”, she shouts from a distance, “I’ll be back!”

After all, it's an oval track.

II

“Move aside!”, the spectators clamor from the sidelines, “the others are coming!”

I crawl to the sidelines and wonder where Pa is. Ma said Pa has big brown eyes and a salt and pepper beard. He is watching us from somewhere in the stands. I want to give Pa a big hug with all my might.

“Are you Pa?”

“Just because I have a beard? Get lost schmuck.”

"Are you Pa?"

"Hell nah!"

“Are you Pa?”

“I haven’t fallen in love for ages. Also I am a woman, you freak!”

“My apologies, Ma’am! Pardon me but what is lo-lo-lo-love?”

“Ah love, it’s a magical thing kid, it’s when a man and a woman, well, fall in love, ugh, it's hard to describe.”

“Like Ma and Pa!”

“I guess, if they really fell in love?”

“Can I fall in love? I am not a man, I am ju-ju-just a child.”

“Don’t let them fool you kid, everyone's a child behind their bag of skins.”

“Really? Okay I will not be fooled!"

"It's not like you were born today."

"Um what does..."

“Wait kid, here take this book, it’s by Pablo Neruda. I haven’t cracked it open in a decade, but it's the closest thing I have to describing love.”

"Wow, Thank you! Can I give you a big hug with all my might?"

"Please, move along."

So I take the book from the bearded-lady.

I read it.

I fall in love...with Pablo's words!

Like this one,

Don't leave me, even for an hour, because

then the little drops of anguish will all run together

the smoke that roams looking for a home will drift

into me, choking my lost heart.

Oh and this one too,

But if each day, each hour you feel

that you are destined for me

with implacable sweetness

if each day a flower climbs up to your lips to seek me

ah my love, ah my own

in me all that fire is repeated

in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten

my love feeds on your love, beloved and as long as you live

it will be in your arms

without leaving mine.

But where is Pa?

I shuffle across the looming crowd in search of Pa. Some say he already left for work, others say he is still here somewhere. I am not sure. I am lost.

I will not be fooled.

While searching in the concession stands, I see another boy like me with no Pa or Ma by his side! He has egg-shaped eyes and a large forehead. He looks odd but he also looks happy.

As he is passing by, I catch the words to a tune he is signing:

It ain't no magic, ain't no lie

You'll laugh so loud you'll cry.

Up and down, round and round,

On my supersonic rocket ship.

“Hey! Where is your Ma and Pa?”, I grab his attention.

He stops and turns around, looks me up and down.

“Um, they died a long time ago.”

“Huh? But you are only a child.”

“Yes, but I am also four thousand years old.”

“Wait what, how does that work?”

“How does anything work!”, he turns back to his sauntering and singing,

It ain't no magic, ain't no lie,

You'll laugh so loud you'll cry…

“But it is magic!”, I protest after him, “Neruda says Love is Magic.”

"No no, Love is Love!"

"Huh?"

Up and down, round and round

On my supersonic rocket ship…

“Wait", I stop him, "you have a rocket ship?”

III

I follow my new friend out to the parking lot and would you believe it?

There it is!

A giant orange spaceship, with rockets on its belly, spitting out blue flames, hovering right above all the parked cars!

“Shh, no one can see it”, my friend winks, “it’s invisible to the eye unless I make it so.”

“So no one can see it except me?”

“Yuppers, so you coming?”

"Yuppers!"

"Wait really? No human has ever said yes."

"I am no human! Ma said, the way I was kicking and punching inside her, she was certain that I was a SUPERHUMAN!"

"Ahh okay that makes sense Superhuman, glad to meet you, my name is Alien!"

~

A Poem I wrote for Alien while travelling faster than light

Friendship grows

as we travel across the Universe

breaking speeds, molds

gravitational pulls; out the porthole, we see

autumn leaves, snow

falling comets, shadows from lost worlds.

Singing poems

dancing to the Kinks

Alien and I fall asleep

counting Saturn's rings.

~

"Would you give me a ring?", I ask Alien after I wake up.

Alien looks at me a little surprised, "Like a 'ring' ring?"

"I never had one."

"You never had anything."

"I have you."

Alien comes close, his eyes dilate even more than normal,

but then he drifts away.

"We are just kids."

"We've grown!", I protest.

"We are just boys."

"We are Kinks! You know, from the song, I looked it up!"

Kink - a noun - a sharp twist or curve in something that is otherwise straight. Example: a kink in the road

"No no the song is called Supersonic Rocket Ship."

"But would you give me a ring?"

"Um, but you are not Alien, you are Superhuman, it's not the same."

"Oh, okay."

"Aw, don't feel down Superhuman, see your favorite poet Pablo!"

I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz

or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off

I love you as certain dark things are to be loved

in secret, between the shadow and the soul.

As Alien narrates the poem, I am slowly starting to fall out of love with Pablo's words.

It's a strange feeling. But it is empowering. No, I don't want to be loved in secret. In fact, I don't even love Pablo! He sucks actually.

I tell Alien I don't love Pablo Neruda anymore.

"But you love me!"

Shucks, he got me there.

IV

"I think it would be best for me to return home."

"Now?"

"I've spent ages here, Ma and Pa must be worried."

"It's only been an hour."

"Wait, what? How does time work?"

"How does anything work!", Alien U-turns his rocket ship, and with a big jolt we soon re-enter Earth's atmosphere.

As the clouds clear, trepidation twists my gut and shakes me up and down. The anxiety worsens when I spot the parking lot and see the crowd still swarming all over like flies.

How will I find Pa?

"Look there", Alien points to a man in the crowd, "There's your Pa!"

"Wait, do you know Pa?"

"No, but I know you!"

Could it be? Is that really Pa?

"Pa! Pa!", I shout out.

There is definitely more salt than pepper in Pa's beard but I think that's him too! I can feel it! Pa was there all along. I am so happy. Pa looks up towards my voice but he is confused as to where it's coming from.

"Ca-ca-can you see me Pa?"

As soon as I shout it out, Pa's eyes widen and he smiles.

"I can now!"

I turn to Alien and Alien looks back at me. He seems sad.

"Come down from there!", Pa shouts from below, "I've been looking all over for you kid!"

"I'll be right there Pa!"

I decide to take Pablo Neruda and hand him over to Alien.

"You should keep it."

"Really?", Alien holds the book in his hand, "I've never received a gift from a Human, err, I mean a Superhuman before."

"Just like I've never had an Alien give me a free ride on his rocket ship!"

We smile together.

"So this is it huh?", Alien asks.

"It looks like it."

"Well, then I want to Thank you for your friendship."

"Thank you for yours."

"Until next time?"

"Until next time!"

Alien extends his hand out and I shake his hand. He bids me farewell. But then as I am about to disembark, a fleeting impulse makes me turn back around and I run to Alien.

I give Alien a big hug with all my might.

V

It's not like I decided to embrace him. I just did. I might have been afraid he would push me back. Still, I just did and would you believe it?

Alien embraces me back!

Lightning!

Explosion!

Fireworks!

"I thought you hated me", Alien is sniffling after our embrace.

"How could I? You helped me find Pa!"

"I thought you'd be bitter. How could you not? I wish I could be a Superhuman like you."

"You need not be."

"But I do!"

"We accept you for who you are Alien, not what we think who you should be. Does that make sense?"

"Kind of, I think, who's we?"

"Think on it some more, until next time Alien!"

"Until next time Superhuman."

I disembark from the spaceship and run toward Pa. So many feelings are rushing through me and I can hardly contain myself as I get near.

Then there he is, Pa, right there in front of me!

"I am so sorry kid", Pa hugs me tight as we unite. He smells so nice.

Lightning!

Explosion!

Fireworks!

"I couldn't find you Pa!"

"I know I know, I am really sorry, I got caught up kid, and Ma was busy with her race, I am so sorry I wasn't there."

"It's okay Pa. I am so happy I found you."

"Really? I thought you'd be so upset."

"I was, but now I am happy."

"I love you kid."

"Really? I really love you Pa, and I really love Ma and Alien and Pablo and also the bearded-lady, I love everyone really!"

"Woah, slow down there kid, do you know what love is?"

"Yes Pa, Love is Love!"

tHe eNd