once i wrote about horses

once i wrote about horses

but not the grazing-in-the-pasture kind

they were the cold, unfeeling kind

petrified by poles run through

whirling 'round in forever circles

the carousel horse, of course of course

it was a probable parallel to love

and how it tends to run laps around me

i have tickets again for such a carnival

if i were pretty the mirrors would not shout so loud; i

only come in fun-sized and my mind's made up

i scream only because i am falling

i don't always want to fall

if the cart has reached the top

i beg you

break the whole thing down

so i get stuck somewhere with a view

you can cherry-pick me out later

when everyone's trickled on home

my prize is that i'm learning

i'm not such a good girl anymore

running toward the exit

monsters, clowns, fools

running toward the exit

oh, what a show

the horses in their freeze-frame waltz

are laughing

[this piece is a response to the "carnival" prompt over at Poets United for Think Tank Thursday this week. x]

07.2012