Plane Missing Since 1939 Lands
Over the Atlantic, everything looks like sky—
ocean, cloud-cover, the rocky sand. All sky.
All blue we keep wanting to fly into.
We were broken before we started, busted landing gear.
Cracked altimeter. My suitcase had a gash from Paris
running straight across the middle. Into which I threw
hope while he fiddled in the cockpit with wires
and machines. After all, anger can look a lot like love
if your ears go bad. In the hotel, stashing oranges
in my purse. The bedspread furious with roses.
All who wander may not be lost, but the sea
looks like Massachusetts from here. But then what is lost?
What is land? Where do we find ourselves if we follow
what looks like a seagull into the rocks. What looks like a ship?
What looks like America, tilting on the horizon line?
A writer and book artist, Kristy Bowen is the author of numerous artist book, chapbook, and zine projects, as well as the recent collection, Sex & Violence (Black Lawrence Press, 2020). She lives in Chicago, where she runs dancing girl press and studio. For more information, visit: kristybowen.net.
