XANDER

Writer’s Craft Journal

Xander Watt

February 18, 2016

ASSIGNMENT: read the poem “Ellie: An Inventory of Being” and write one in a similar form about yourself. Explore and express those inner conflicts as concisely as you can.

I am Xander.

I am seventeen years old.

Mom calls me Alexander.

Grandpa can’t remember what to call me.

Dad just never calls.

I am sometimes ignored,

often forgotten,

mostly invisible—

but it’s no superpower.

I don’t know how to talk to girls.

I don’t get them

so I don’t get them.

But that’s okay because, like all strange and unusual creatures,

they both intrigue and terrify me.

I think too much sometimes,

blurt the wrong thing often, and

feel confused, always.

I do Social Autopsies,

dissecting my awkward conversations

to determine the exact

cause of death.

I want to finish the Lego Death Star I started when I was nine.

But I’m still missing a key piece—

my dad.

I am anti-Superman

and pro-Marvel.

I like a hero with a troubled past.

I guess, it gives me hope.

I wish life unfolded in graphic panels,

logical boxes of daily drama

narrated by Stan Lee or George Lucas.

A world where thoughts were clear and bold

in big bubbles overhead.

Then I’d get it.

I’d get you.

Because we are all just comic characters, really.

All of us villainous heroes or heroic villains

depending on the day.

I wonder what my life’s mission will be?

Where will I boldly go?

But first, I need to fix some broken things.

Like my cracked camera lens.

My Lego Death Star.

And my family.

My name is Xander and this is me in 2016.