Clown Wigs by Jason Conner

Jason Conner is a social worker living in Eugene, Oregon. His work has appeared in: The Wisconsin Review, The Eclectic Muse, The Kelsey Review, The Penwood Review, Soul Fountain, Nomad’s Choir, The Oak, The Pen, Lone Stars Magazine, The Indented Pillow, and the online magazine Jerry Jazz Musician. When he’s not writing, he enjoys backpacking in the Pacific Northwest and spending time with his wife and two daughters.

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Clown Wigs by Jason Conner

My neighbor speaks to me
in a language
I can longer comprehend.
Judging by his demeanor
it is an urgent matter
he is trying to address.
I hand him a pad of paper
and a pen and motion for him
to draw his concerns.
He draws a burning building
with clowns diving to their doom
with wigs aflame
and smeared face paint.
I try to express my confusion
but instead of words
fireflies flicker from my lips
pelting my neighbor
in his bewildered face.
The paper boy tosses
clown wigs at our feet.
It is then I notice we are
no longer in my yard.
but on top of a building.
My neighbor sadly smears
paint on our faces
as smoke obscures the scene.