Movie Magic

Illustration by Jenn Marie

By Sam Watermeier 

The film flickered
like the kicking feet inside her.
A baby boy,
galled by The Godfather Part III,
ready to exit the theater
and her womb.

The father wanted to stay
for the climactic scene.
But the light of the projector
was no match for his wife’s eyes.

They rushed to the hospital,
where they met their bundle
of hair as black as Michael Corleone’s.

“Let’s name him Superman!” their other son said.
“He’ll be Superman one day,
but let’s not pressure him.
Clark will be his middle name
until he can fly.”

Then they took the boy home,
a gift that cut the Oscar season chill.
(He had powers already!)
Now, outside of movie theaters,
they could see that magic was real.

This poem was previously published in the 2018 edition of The Polk Street Review and on Midwest Film Journal. 

About the Writer: Ever since his mother went into labor with him in a movie theater, Sam Watermeier has been growing as a film fanatic, journalism junkie, literature lover and music maven. For several years, he served as an arts and entertainment reporter for the Indianapolis publication, NUVO Newsweekly, and his writing has appeared in other print and online journals, including The Film Yap, Midwest Film Journal, THiNK Magazine and The Polk Street Review. He lives in Broad Ripple, Indiana with the lovely Jenn Marie, the co-founder of In Verse. They have five fur babies at home.