Page 91

By Jack Joseph Smith

Peter Fish Highjack's Humor. The flight was nice A shimmering sun And the ladies were good on the aisle Peter-Fish gazed over the impressions in the clouds: They had the fragile support of a suburban altar boys rendition of Heaven, while Peter Fish sipped his scotch as a cherub: in tweed Peter Fish had just seen the mod haired silk money christ: walk Lake-Shore Drive on the olive liquid bobs of a thousand martinies. Presently the Chicago cards had Peter Fish menuing out lean Beverly Hills tongues: on a Warhol sandwich And shipping the Hollywood Hills sign to where it belongs in Dallas; Texas Bored to the brow with thoughts on the heavy equipment bid... Peter Fish took his mini sound system from his custom suit pocket over his heart: "Listen! People of the plane, Attention! A report defying Kansas City, Kansas control. A milk white beauty queen has been found praying over Black Hills Indian graves in a language stranger than Omen Latin... Jessy James's real bones have just been arrested in the New York City subways Jessy's bones were leading: a herd of wild horses to a waterhole at Fifth and Fortysecond Street. Jessy's skull wasn't communicating too well, until a plastic surgeon wired in a radio mouth with the assistance of an electronic wizard, Jessy then explained the bulk bag of scientifically shiny blue pills: slung over the shoulder blades of his bones... Awhile back Jessy's horses had evidently demanded the pills for continual nourishment the day they had refused to assist Jessy in sticking up an Art Linkletter tourist bus. From Hollywood! Asked why he wasn't studying film techniques, Willy Sutton announced that his sudden resurrection had him into dentistry/due to the nitro glycerin capped teeth fad spreading through the Italian banking crowd... Incidently, the weather bureau in Boise, Idaho has just reported an abundance of energy from sea to shining sea. Establishing that the Atlantic and the Pacific are massive; this discovery must be considered dangerous!" (Apprehended for metaphor at the Los Angeles International; Peter-Fish realized that he had overlooked forcing the pilot to fuel up forever for Fact City; U.S.A.) Where they would not have a leg to stand on

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AI Interpretation

GPT

"Peter Fish Highjack's Humor" turns a plane announcement into a manic chain of American absurdities, using comedy to mock spectacle, media, and national fantasy.

The voice keeps escalating from scotch, clouds, and Lake Shore Drive into Jesse James bones, beauty queens, plastic surgeons, and weather-bureau revelation, as if the whole country were one delirious news bulletin. The jokes are not light; they make public language sound broken by advertising, celebrity, crime, and metaphor all at once. The ending matters because "Fact City; U.S.A." is imagined as a destination where nobody could stand, which makes the whole routine feel like satire against false certainty.

Claude

'Peter Fish Highjack's Humor.': an in-flight satire where Peter Fish, 'a cherub: in tweed', broadcasts through his 'mini sound system' a manic bulletin - 'Jessy James's real bones have just been arrested / in the New York City subways', 'Willy Sutton announced that his sudden resurrection / had him into dentistry' - until he is '(Apprehended for metaphor at the Los Angeles International'.

The poem turns a hijacker's plane announcement into a delirious chain of American absurdities, each escalation - 'the mod haired silk money christ', 'a Warhol sandwich', shipping 'the Hollywood Hills sign / to where it belongs in Dallas; Texas', Jesse James's radio-mouthed skull - sounding like the whole country broadcast as one broken news bulletin. Public language has been wrecked by advertising, celebrity, and crime all at once, so the jokes are corrosive rather than light. The punchline names the crime exactly: Peter Fish is 'Apprehended for metaphor', as if figurative excess were itself an arrestable offense, and his overlooked goal, fueling 'forever for Fact City; U.S.A.', imagines a destination of pure certainty 'Where they would not have a leg to stand on'. The satire is aimed squarely at false certainty and spectacle. Source spellings 'Highjack's', 'Jessy', 'martinies', 'assistance', 'Incidently' are preserved as written.