My poem “Marvel Word Problems” has been nominated for a Rhysling Award in the short poem category. The Rhyslings are voted on by members of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. Below is the nominated poem which first appeared in the poetry anthology Drawn To Marvel.

Marvel Word Problems

If Spider-Man can lift 15 tons, can jump over 20 feet, has reflexes 15 times faster than normal, but can’t save the people he loves, how do you measure regret?

If Aurora leaves the convent flying at Mach 3 heading east and her brother Northstar leaves Montreal at Mach 5 heading south but stops in New York to come out, what is the speed of acceptance?

If Black Bolt’s voice caused the death of his parents and cost his brother his sanity, and he wants to tell Medusa, his wife, he loves her, what is the price of a whisper?

If Apocalypse attacks New York at 5:33 and the X-Men save the day at 8:22 and the mutant protests start at 8:30, what time does the hate stop?

If the Scarlet Witch can control probabilities and marry a synthezoid and have children yet go insane and kill her friends in the Avengers, what are the chances of love in the Age of Ultron?