SHORT CHRONICLES: The Man with the Play-Doh in the P-11 Bus

On my way to Alamar, I was sat on the bus (P-11) —absorbed in my own thoughts— while a man was kneading a piece of play-doh. As if by magic, he “shaped” a shark, a prodigious miniature of a hammerhead shark.

I was amazed with the skill of that man kneading fins, tails, mouth…It was an accurate practice of realism, but in the shark’s curvature there was also a subtle trait of lyricism, which had nothing to do with some academic art.

And suddenly, a flower sprouted from the superior shark’s fin. A rose whose petals increased in numbers quickly, to the point that the shark transmuted very soon into a rose bush.

Some passengers were astonished with this spontaneous art, which is weird to find in a public transportation. The man, in a fit of anger, undid everything! And the play-doh became, once again, just a malleable mass.

The lady by my side got startled: what a shame! It was so cute! I would have placed it on my sideboard.

But I love the performance world. The sudden illumination of a beauty that fades away at once, naturally…And beyond the art itself, I admire the artist, who is capable of creating in unexpected circumstances.

The man with the play-doh gave us a miracle that night, teeny-tiny, but lovable.

Translated by Sergio A. Paneque Diaz / CubaSí Translation Staff