We had daily pledge of allegiance. And to-morrow morning,
We shall have combat training. But to-day,
To-day we have naming of mutant powers. Humanity
Magnificent like a mighty lion king of the wild,
And to-day we have naming of mutant powers.
Is the disease immunity, whose use you will see,
When you see mutants heal. And this is the regeneration mutation,
Which in your case you have not got. Medicine
diagnosing and preventing disease, saving lives,
Which in our case we have not got.
This is the flight mutation, which is always used
With various methods of control. And please do not let me
See anyone allowing a mutant to fly. You can bring him down quite easy
By pressing the trigger. Airplanes
Soaring through the sky, can be brought down easy
By pressing the trigger.
And this you can see is superhuman strength. The purpose of this
Is to wreak havoc, as you can see. Mutants can ruin a town
Punching and throwing things: this is why
Mutants must die. Energy is used by machines
Helping humanity achieve even greater things
This is why mutants must die.
This is why mutants must die: You can bring him down quite easy
By pressing the trigger: like flight,
And healing factor, and superhuman strength,
Which in our case we have not got; and the Purifiers
Diagnosing and preventing, and helping humanity achieve even greater things,
For to-day we have naming of mutants powers.
Interesting to see the mutants vs humans storyline mapped onto the Reed poem's voices, structure and catch-phrases. Your version deviates a little too far from the specific language of Reed's poem to ensure instant recognizability.
ReplyDeleteThe last stanza which is meant to recap and 'purify' (sorry!) the first four gets a little long and overblown in your version. But overall the poem works as a fine pastiche.