Doris Lynch

Village Mail Plane

We zoom down the Kotzebue runway: my husband, toddler, and I. Seconds before the Cessna slips into the Chukchi, the plane jerks skyward. The pilot turns north. Behind us, he’s jammed mail bags, boxes, and a dozen, twenty-quart plastic containers filled with God knows what. After ten minutes, we see no sign of life below: no roads or cabins. No winding lines of caribou or solitary bears fattening up before snow. Only the placid sea and gnashed rocks to our left, and the Brooks Range to our right. Although it’s only August, the snow extends more than halfway down the mountains. Kristen babbles in my lap. She hums to the engines’ roar, until the motors begin to stutter and nearly stall. I hug Kristen tighter.  The pilot yells something unintelligible; his headphones make conversation impossible. When he turns and notices my terrified face, he offers a thumbs-up sign.

tundra walking
feeling the planet's wobble
with each step

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About the Author

Doris Lynch has won awards from the Genjuan International Haibun and the HSA Haibun contests. Her first book of haibun, Meteor Hound, is available at Amazon.com. Her work has been featured in many journals. She also writes in long poetic forms.