I Want to Be Like Marlon Brando

I want to be like
Marlon Brando,
fallen reputation
and all, because
the dude had
a lasting integrity
that you could trace
from the beginning
to the end of his
career.

That's all I can
really talk about,
his career, the
legacy he left
behind, from
The Men to
The Island of Dr. Moreau,
no matter if his
decisions garnered
respect (The Godfather)
or derision (Mutiny on the Bounty),
he traced a map
of his own world vision,
from Apocalypse Now
to The Formula,
never flinching,
no matter what it
got him.

First respect
(On the Waterfront)
then anything but
(The Freshman).

Yeah, he was
a contender,
he believed that
personal decisions
counted for something,
that a man in the world
could be a man
in the world
without sacrificing
himself to it,
could be the world
and could be himself,
and damn the world
if it didn't agree.

He demonstrated
how it was possible
to be oneself
and create illusions,
be The Wild One
and still the father
of Superman,
or find romance for himself
(Last Tango in Paris)
and others (Don Juan DeMarco).

But he never gave in,
and for that, he
was crucified, finding
no comfort in strangers
(A Streetcar Named Desire),
after all, just a brute
to the world, savage,
untamed, lost.

But he was a beacon,
and those who saw
him knew him,
and even though
who don't know him
carry on his spirit,

and because of that,
because he was always
the best of himself,
I want to be like
Marlon Brando,
now and forever.

And while he
ultimately
saw nothing
of himself
in it, the
world is better
for having him,
a rejected soul
like the world itself.