i never liked roller coasters
…yet here i am
in this traveling carnival show
with no harness to my soul
roaring through the fog
screams come in weightless free-fall
and then as if in a trance
the rush of the climb finds gravity
with eyes closed
i search for my rooted resilience
that ever growing twig
hiding among wildflower fields
…yet here i am
in this traveling carnival show
where echoes of times past try to embrace me
to when a jolly soul with his cookie breath
or that midnight tooth sleuth
birthed a hope
floating along a river calm
where faith was a silent friend
when rose colored glasses were but a pretty trinket
no fear of a wolf in the shadows waiting to be fed
where instead piles of leaves giggled back at me
…yet here i am
in this traveling carnival show
where red velvet curtains sway
hiding the weird mangled bits
where a coin and twisted curiosity
will give you a different view
…yet here i am
in this traveling carnival show
where thoughts stick
like cotton candy glue
riding that sugar wave
an addictive rush
until its dead end
…yet here i am
in this traveling carnival show
where flowers thought pretty
spray of stale laughter
hiding behind painted smiles
…yet here i am
in this traveling carnival show
where buckets drip of dreams
from ferris wheels in a balloon filled sky
around they go
until rust takes hold
and slows the parade
…yet still
here i am
in this traveling carnival show
riding
feeding these falls
all the while hidden
within the folds of my screams
lingers still a hope
resting upon my breast
blisters now
from my every burn
but even pained it still tries to drive
my every haphazard course
upon this track
where my inconvenient heart resides
in its traveling carnival show