Action Man
When he was a kid, he crucified Action Man
He enjoyed that the rubber hands submitted
perfectly to the hammer, nails passing easily
into the wooden cross. As Action Man hung in the garden
he reflected upon how unhelpful the trappings of heroism are:
they fuelled imposter syndrome and shame
The fact that he didn’t have any genitalia
underneath his integral blue pants
meant that it was difficult for others
to really see him as human
Bruises did not show up on rippled muscles.
Heroes, especially divine ones have no need for
earthly considerations such as
Fair Pay.
The accessories he possessed did not really
equip him for the job at hand
He wanted to throw out the snow boots and canoe
In his darkest moments he had imagined a leather strap
how it might tighten around his neck
double beat jugular venous pulse rising above it:
Hello, hello…
People stood around and clapped
the weight of expectations dragged heavily
at the nails in his palms
and he considered
what a long way he had to fall
Elizabeth Osmond (twitter @bethosmond) is a neonatal intensive care doctor and a poet. She uses poetry to reflect upon her work. Her work has featured in the Public Sector Poetry journal and in 2021 she won third prize in the Hippocrates poetry and medicine competition.