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A Visit From the Bubbleman
'Twas the last of October, and through the Northwest
Little children were donning their holiday best
But before they set out to trick-or-treat
They were in for a show that was almost as sweet.
Arriving at two in his bright purple van . . .
It's Garry Golightly – the Bubbleman!
When he travels the globe, blowing bubbles for all,
World leaders and children alike have a ball.
With a bucket of suds and a box full of gear
The Bubbleman's sure to bring holiday cheer.
He starts with a hint of the message ahead
As he holds up a sign that's best carefully read.
For the Bubbleman teaches, it's all how you see:
Your perspective can change with just one apostrophe.
And with this suggestion of fortune and hope
The Bubbleman slyly dips into his soap,
And produces a few tiny bubbles that rise,
To the children's delight, far up into the skies.
Although he starts small, it soon becomes clear
That the Bubbleman's mesmerized everyone here—
Not with trendy new gizmos you buy from a store,
But a tried and true method we've all seen before.
For bubbles, you see, are the perfect cheap toy.
It's a very simple formula: 15 parts water, one part Joy.
Soon children are catching the bubbles in swarms—
"You break it, you bought it!" the Bubbleman warns.
As the bubbles grow bigger, the energy surges!
But wait—listen closely, and a message emerges.
Down with pharmaceuticals, down with brand names!
Down with lots of sugar, and video games!
Children need time, not gadgets galore!
The love you give kids doesn't come from a store.
Then, all of a sudden, the atmosphere shifts
A calm fills the crowd as the bubble cloud lifts
At the height of excitement, Garry's true power shows
Not in the size of the bubbles he blows
Not in the way that they shimmer and glisten
But instead in the way he gets children to listen.
When the Bubbleman whips out his bubble-filled wand
The magical thing is the way kids respond
Quietly gathered to see what it is
And revealing his favorite oxymoron: calm kids.
Then, slowly but surely, he raises the chant—
Words only you can give them, and Toys 'R' Us can't:
I am lovabubble! I am huggabubble! I am adorabubble! I am incredibubble!
Wise words from the Bubbleman, shining above
And captured in bubbles:
All you really need is love.
And as you will see when you look in their eyes
When you love like a bubble, you don't fall – you rise.
Spectacular images end Garry's show,
Huge swirling bubbles that gleam and glow.
But the real grand finale has nothing to do
With the size of the bubbles, the many or few
Because the very biggest bubble, whatever it's worth
Is the bubble we live on – our own planet Earth
And no matter the size or the shape, it is true
That the very greatest bubble on the planet . . . is you!
So come watch the Bubbleman, and you will see
It's not just entertainment, but a bubbleosophy.
The Bubbleman vanished soon after the show
But as he departed, one last bubble was blown.
And I heard him exclaim, as it rose to the sky:
Have a wonderful day! See you lighter! Bubble-bye!
Copyright Sarah Kuuk 2005
This poem was written by a University of Washington student who did a project on the Bubbleman with a slideshow. It was voted one of the best. Presented here with permission.
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