Lexi Pelle

The Nuns Came by Bus

Shuffled up to the pale blue
and pink entrance, received

special wristbands to ride
all the rides for free.

It was my third day
working CHAIR-O-PLANES,

a metal jellyfish that thrust
tourists in the air when

I hit the green button.
What happens if I hit

the red button I’d asked
Mr. Gigliotti. He said

Don’t hit the red button.
From my warm plastic booth

I watched the nuns move around
the park, ice cream leapt

from a kid’s cone as they
approached a game.

They lined up and played
everything. This was the year

I decided not to make
my confirmation. I felt naked

in my spaghetti straps
and shorts as I checked

that each sister had
pulled down the metal bar

and clipped the chain
between the folds of her habit.

They rose like crows
and circled the morning sky,

arms raised. I touched
the red button, but didn’t press it.

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Lexi Pelle was the winner of the 2022 Jack McCarthy Book prize. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Rattle, Ninth Letter, One Art, Sucarnochee Review and Zenaida. Her debut book, Let Go With The Lights On, will be released in May.