it's not a plane
at the halloween party in chamberlain. south dakota. the bubble gum blowing competition took place with the blessing of parents. who shout encouragement. promise rewards. protest when their child fails to progress. holler derision. when another child does.
a child blows a bubble bigger than themselves. than a house even. and slowly. to gasps. rises towards the clouds. till everyone. she thinks. below. is a dot.
over the school. church. gas station. and rainbow cafe. the caravan park. o’donnells express. and there. the salvation army thrift store. next to the baker theatre.
below in the hall. there is shouting. amy clearly blew the largest bubble. that is undeniable. BUT it’s simply not possible to check. did she cheat.
amy pulses on the radar screen of the municipal airport. causing concern in the control tower. there is simply no explanation for the slowly ascending. flashing green light. for sure. it’s not a plane or helicopter. no one can think what it could be.
in a field. one of the children not at the halloween party. sees all this. and on the monday. in the playground. he tells the others. before she plunged from the sky. into the river. what he remembers. remembers most. was amy’s widening smile. her impossible to suppress laughter.
Daniel Lehan has lived in New York, Florence, Finland, and Quebec, and now lives in Dungeness, on the south coast of England, facing France. He delivers collage workshops to a wide range of participants including those in prison. His work, “Book Pages Destroyed By Typewriter,” is included in The New Concrete, Visual Poetry in the 21st Century, published by Hayward Publishing, 2015.
See more of Daniel's work in 12.1 and 12.1 and 11.4 and 11.4 and 11.4 and 11.4 and 11.4 and 11.4 and 11.4 and 11.3 and 10.4 and 10.4 and 10.4 and 2.1