Teebo

When I was a boy
A very little boy
Star Wars was everywhere.

There were Star Wars pillow cases
Star Wars annuals
Star Wars lunchboxes
And Star Wars action figures.

(Especially Star Wars action figures.)

I remember a boy who sat beside me in infants' class
Staring at a photo in his Star Wars annual
Of Princess Leia, wearing very little,
And how entranced he was by her grown-up beauty.

The films themselves
Were a few years old by then
And may as well have belonged
To a galaxy far, far away
And a time long, long ago.

I didn't see the films, but the action figures--
How eagerly I collected the action figures!

And then, one memorable day
I was explaining to my older sister
(With all a child's oblivious intentness)
The identity of one particular toy.

And my sister, snarkily summarizing, said:

"Teebo is an Eewok. He's a stripy Eewok. He's the leader of the Eewoks."

The utterance, euphonic and triadic,
Went down in family folklore straight away.

And now, when I am thirty-five years old,
And I know that Teebo was not the Eewok leader

And that society needs the profit motive
And that the world will carry on without me
And people that you actually know can die

I cling to this old wisdom all the fiercer:

Teebo is an Eewok. He's a stripy Eewok. He's the leader of the Eewoks.

Reader, I offer it to you-- repeat it:

Teebo is an Eewok.

He's a stripy Eewok.

He's the leader of the Eeewoks.

Remember this, and it will serve you well.