January 17, 2025

Captain Footnote

Through much of time,

For most of us, we wondered if history

Would even record us, recount our exploits,

Cast as a hero in our times.

If we're lucky, we'd show up

As a caped complement to the story line,

Not quite marginal, not completely irrelevant.

Let Spider-man speak of great responsibility:

Captain Footnote stands for accountability.

With a tiny numbered hat,

We'd look weak if not for our role,

The narrative crushing our words,

But not our nibbled, gnawed points

That we thrust from below,

Or parried from the end pages.

And I like to think such was still a fine destiny:

Captain Footnote could do this all day.

But, alas, history is no longer valued,

Let alone the sidekick saved by citations,

An asterisk at best, often ibid.

No one wants a fact-checker in their face.

Those days were always numbered:

Captain Footnote died getting in America's way.