Saturday, November 3, 2012

Bonnie Bowers



image by SueAnn


Bonnie Bowers

Little Bonnie Bowers used to watch
her Daddy fly his biplane out over
their family fields, dusting crops
with a thick greenish-gray mist,
looping, spinning, climbing, diving,
tilting the restrutted wings on the
bright brown Boeing Stearman,

tingling with delight 
when he would glide effortlessly 
to the flat spot behind their hay barn,
knowing it was Saturday, 
her turn to fly too,
standing there tall at ten, 
her white leather aviatrix helmet cap 
buttoned snugly under her dimpled chin, 
her white girlie bomber jacket zipped up, 
her “Bonnie” name tag stitched on 
with pink thread over her excited heart, 

her tomboy head swimming with images
of primitive microrapters flexing their 
greenish-gray flight feathers,
of murderous biplanes forcing Cary Grant
face down in the Dakota mud,
the silliness of Snoopy in his Sopwith Camel
cruising proudly in the skies of Cartoonland,
those wood nymph fairies that fluttered
lovingly around her blond curls within
her daydreams like sentient humming butterflies,

each overlapping madly 
as her father’s wheels left the ground,
the wind pressing against her white goggles,
rising strong above the checkerboard fields,
the windbreak trees rows and rail fences,
the sun-kissed silos, the pinto speckles 
of several dairy herds, rising, lifting,
winging like a pink and white angel
toward cotton candy clouds, and above,
bursting into a blue sky so beautiful
it always made her weep as she searched
the horizon for hawks, eagles, and red barons,
her rainbow-colored knit scarf flapping sweetly,
popping like the folded queen of hearts
in the pink spokes of her front bike tire,
as her father manned the flight stick
and her mother waved from the front porch,
a mere matronly dot below, and her joy
was still swelling, surging, singing,
nearly inexorable.


Glenn Buttkus

November 2012

Posted over on dVerse Poets

Would you like to hear the author read this poem to you?

14 comments:

Brian Miller said...

haha i love it...you went to her site and found a unique piece of hers....these are def intriguing works of art...they are growing one me...and your verse certainly helped...ha...i love the story you gave her...nice on the card in the bike tires too...nostalgia...what a flight....

Beachanny said...

The portrait of a modern maiden miracle - unstoppable, flying into the wind, courageous, credible, decisive, valiant, enduring. Long may she fly! Brilliant prose poem, sir.

Tashtoo said...

Again...the voice of the story-teller rises so strong and demands undivided attention. Love the piece you selected...and the tale you wove around it. We need you in paperback...at the very minimum!

Laurie Kolp said...

Wonderful example of a child's vivid imagination!

Anonymous said...

You are quite the story teller :)
I always look forward to listening to your pieces!

Thanks for another wonderful piece :)

henry clemmons said...

Very entertaining and attention holding. I loved the bit with the plane. Brought back familiar visuals. Great job.

Unknown said...

Such a fantastic tale and characterization. I found my heart racing but sadly not beneath ribbon stitching. I admire her and your talent in bringing Bonnie to life!

lucychili said...

exhilarating =)

Dana Dampier said...

I love her story... her sense of adventure at such a young age!

Sueann said...

What a glorious surprise that you found one of my dolls to write about. Such a wonderful piece too...loved it and where it took me. Fabulous!!
Thank you
SueAnn

Dave King said...

Totally convincing. Love it.

Nilanjana Bose said...

Enjoyed listening to the poem very much, very vivid, captivating, thank you.

Maude Lynn said...

Oh, outstanding!

Guy Marsh said...

At the risk of making you think I'm blowing smoke up your ass, you really are getting good at this.