Everyone gets to be a person,
Few become icons:
What is it to have a lasting
image more well-known
than one's work?
Che Guevara, Bruce Lee,
Heath Ledger's Joker --
Images you can find on
back-alley walls from Lagos
to Prague to Kochi
to Seoul to Santiago
and back again.
Seen day-after-day by people
who never saw Enter the Dragon
or read of the Cuban Revolution,
or saw Nolan's Batman Trilogy,
but they know the faces.
They have thoughts about them
-- and, sometimes, strong feelings --
just like so many people have
thoughts about Alexander the Great
based solely on his name
and a rough impression of history.
What must this be...
blessing or curse ...
if icons had some way to care?
Iconic [Free Verse]
2

