Alida Woods Coulrophobia

Coulrophobia

Americans are more afraid of clowns than terrorism, economic collapse, or dying… -- Vox poll October 2016

You reach out your hand take the flower you don’t know if it will explode in a bouquet of color a storm of flowers or a surge of water pushing you back against the man in the clown suit.

His bulbous nose smells your terror as he shuffles forward in mammoth shoes, the tiny car he drives spins in circles.

Now you see him everywhere: he is Pogo, Patches, Pennywise, he is the anchorman on the nightly news, the rebel at the rally, the commissioner on City Council, the governor at the podium, the cop at your car window, your husband at the kitchen sink, your son driving home for the weekend.

The man in the clown suit stares back at you from the mirror astonished you are not laughing.

Coulrophobia II

You reach out your hand take the bag of skittles you don’t know if it will explode in bits of color or a surge of bullets pushing you back against the man or the surge of water pushing the children back against Irene’s Beauty Shop Birmingham 1963.

Their dogs, unleashed smell the hatred. Long sticks wave in the air above your head, the white patrol car blocks your exit.

Now you see him everywhere He is Uncle Tom, Andrew Jackson, George Wallace, George Zimmerman Daniel Pantaleo Darren Wilson Derek Chauvin They stare at you from the TV screen. You are astonished.

Alida Woods

Alida Woods lives in Asheville, NC. Her work has appeared in a number of journals including The Amsterdam Quarterly, Front Porch, The Great Smokies Review, and others. A chapbook, Disturbing Borders, was published in 2018.