April 5 - Space Commander Tom

The Space Commander Brothers

Space Commander Tom

Third grade was fun and surprisingly literary.
Every day Mrs. Rogers read us nap time books
About Little America and Admiral Byrd,
And Caddie Woodlawn exploring fields and brooks.

That year I was a troll, dressed all in black;
White beard hanging down. I said "Forsooth!"
Then broke into song in front of a crowd of people.
(I still considered parents people in my youth.)

Mama bought us space commander shirts
For my brother and me - "V" necks just like 
Lost in Space and Captain Kirk on Star Trek.
We built a cardboard starship on my bike.

We were heroic space commanders that whole year.
Aliens quaked, trembling in their icy crevasses;
Fearful of the mighty space commander brothers,

Especially of the handsome one with the glasses.

© 2019 by Tom King

I'm the only 3rd grader in the cast with a beard.