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The Carnival
1.
The carnival slaps
the sleeping bricks
of this local retail plaza
an antique shopper
rattles her cane
clutches her coupons and dimes
the parking lot revolts
retail slave girl
morphs to fantasy whore
a gridlock of family vans
unravels into
gleaming dream machinery
Twister, Avalanche, LeMans
become mechanical minstrels
squealing archaic megaphones
2.
tucked behind the festival lights
(rusted trailers, depleted motor homes)
a bearded carny smokes long
puffs of hope through firey bones
(felonious fantasy)
while throaty generators
groan voltage and desire
3.
Jittery teens
anticipate wonderworld
rock and sway
to girating beat
they clutch their tickets
flirt with heat
soon the teens are screaming
the rides cascade
expansive and glimmering
they twirl and spin
their young bottoms
grip the leatherette
denim and plastic and fire
4.
he rolls his sleeve
above his pack
pulls at his pants
to relieve his crack
he spits on the ground
and with a smack
knocks the handle
back upon its track
and applies the brake
streaming colours
intense and shimmering
wind down now like a broken top
the girls exhale a dizzy relief
and the ride serves up
dreams that night
of kaleidescope and candy floss
5.
in the hungover dawn
the carnival people
move on to new experiences
the rides are speachless
hang in varying degree
of mindless disassembly
the stoic carny man
sweeps the memories of dreams
into trash cans
our shopper returns and recharges
she spends her day
rapacious bargain hunting
everything must go
Randy Hurst
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