the artist who
had been mak
ing them (we
didn’t know that
for sure) had
been placing
them on the lower
branches of trees
or sneaking
them up onto
the edges of the
sloping architecture
of people’s
homes or on
some of the neigh
borhood’s taller
mailboxes and
one time one
was hung from the
community’s singular
stoplight they
had all been
made of what seemed
like pieces of cut glass
that had been
assembled by
rotating wires and some
of us thought the swirl
ing twirling pieces
were all somehow
electric and when any
of us looked up on a
sunny morning our
eyes would be hit
by the shimmering
lights we thought
electric which
would momentarily
blind us and when
we could finally see
the swirling glass
moving after being
blinded momentarily
(during that time we
would each hear
the music of the
pieces tinkling
as if a music box
with a familiar
tune that we
could almost make
out, almost find the
words to, some
childhood nursery
rhyme sung to warn
us about bridges falling
or creatures that
would kidnap us
if we went too deeply into
the forest or faraway places
where everything
was crooked and in
threes, like billy goats or
bears or beds or pigs with
houses made of
different materials
creating different textures
these materials, each house
more fragile or
less fragile if you
were lucky or had fore
thought) but then one
day some boys
found one dangling
from just beneath the
bridge (the only entrance
or exit into the
idyllic community)
that swirled and twirled
but did not shimmer nor
tinkle and one of
the boys said it
stunk like a barn and
the one fire truck and
the sheriff’s car
could soon be
seen with their en
circling lights and
they stayed there
until at least dusk
and the mayor called
a meeting and put out
a proclamation
or a warning and
nobody was talking
anymore about how
beautiful they
were or how
they were works
of art anymore and
people were
mostly just
silent and serious
like winter after the
first big snow
only it was still
summer and the
world was suddenly
full of more
questions
than answers and
the kids would fall
asleep in class
and complain
of headaches once
school started that
year and this went on
for quite some time.
