Today I Gave My Brother a Superman Pin

My brother Alan struggles to relate to our lives

When he visits from across the world.

Flying thousands of miles from tropical lands,

Like Thailand and Nepal, places normal to him now

With their papayas, lady-boys, pagodas and prayer flags.

Here seems to him even more exotic and inscrutable,

With its summer camps, playdates, squabbles about screen time.

He adjusts his brain to new time zones, mouth to new flavors

Eyes to new light, shadows and juxtapositions,

Making sense out of them with the lens of his other eye.

His camera snaps serendipity, captures the capricious,

Preserves the precious for future reflection.

Crossing time zones, latitudes and attitudes,

Moving with the sun’s seasons – a solitary Nomad,

Without a tribe but with courage and a Canon.

He leaves his Krypton and in each new home,

He leaves his brave, beautiful mark.

Sometimes lost, sometimes loopy, always loved.

He is Snapper Man.

He is Superman.