Carnival

Fingers sticky from taffy apples,
blood oranges and candy floss,
clutch balloons like long lost ghosts
and the wrappers of sweets
scatter across the wooden pier
where a sideshow barker sits -
one finger crooked in welcome,
his mind the faded posters
of your curiosity

Coins spill from your fingers -
shiny copper to cross palms
as a stranger’s smile
bewitches your steps
and lures you in.
Children’s bright shoes flash…
the whirl of painted ponies
and music rattling like tin
while overhead the Ferris Wheel
tilts dangerously
like a twisted top.

The clown’s crayon slick smile
darts like a razor
and dares you to follow
behind the mirrors
into the maze.
And under the big top
an acrobat hangs
like a tiny doll -
wires crossed, net cut,
twitching like a slip knot,
as the crowd holds its breath,

waiting for the show.