I Left My Wings on a Chair

Career Wish Camp

3 C a r e e r w I s h C a m P ThefirefightersandPyromaniacsareevenlymatched. earlyafternoons wearesurroundedbysirensandburninghouses. allmorningCarpenters hammer up the firewood structures, then the crazy Pyros run past, trailinggasoline.Policemencatchthem,readthemtheirrights,letthem go. In the Performing arts Center, stocky Ballerinas dance Bumblebee Remix toarecordedaudience.whentheyfallontheirclavicles,theygo to the hospital where everyone’s a nurse or a Doctor. The astronauts know how the Ballerinas feel. They get dizzy, too. Down the hall from the Veterinarians, aquariums bubble with blooming frog eggs. I am a Biologist, my nails pond green. we touch everything : newborn moles we call jellybeans, the dry squeeze of snakes, underlip of turtle shells and their feet pumping air when we don’t put them down. we climb a ladder to measure giraffes. There are enough microscopes for everyone. we watch movies of dividing e. coli, whale migrations, time-release plants jerking into adulthood, human fetuses glowing red in round bellies. we know about sex. we don’t tell jokes about it. we’re not the Comedians. The stylists do our hair twice a week. for dinner we eat pizza with heaps of pepperoni, and wedding cake, our lips pink and blue from icing roses. we applaud the Pizzeria Cooks and Bakers in big hats. no one makes salad. movie stars smoking cigarillos come out, followed by Circus Performers. The Biologists don’t want the tigers doing tricks, but we sure wish we could spin on ropes like that. The Presidents say, “my fellow americans!” Pilots give soldiers a ride to war. each day, a few don’t come back. ...