Ferris Dreams and Neon Screams

Dark Dreamscapes Poetry Entry
August 2020
Prompt #2

Torn paper ticket
sheared from dusty roll
with quick zipper-rip
buys me one
ratchety clunk of bent turnstile,
entrance to world of

Ferris dreams
and neon screams.

Leaky nostrils flare with
first breath of autumn,
it's wafting chill
seasoned by airborne sugar,
cherry-red sunset tinged
by dark amusement.

Pink fingers clutch
Crooked aluminum’s
heat-sucking tubes,
I sway in line
to tinkling melody,
airy whistle-chirp
of out-of-tune pipes
set to rhythmic clack
of climbing coasters.

Boarding swinging metal,
happy nervousness wells
when confined by squeaky clap
of rusty-hinged door.
Leaning, bent spokes
lurch dangling legs upward,

peering over top,
thrill of first drop.

Far below pellets crack,
pinging metal targets
delighting shrieking children,
bouncing on young toes
clutching polyester sharks.

Cakes drip from funnels,
butter sticks cinnamon to
nimble fingers
licked in spirals by zealous tongues
before true wash by snow cone.
Brain-freezing amuse-bouche
prepares stomachs to spin on
whirling, mechanical spiders.

Leaves crunch.
Slegehammers ding.
Houses giggle with fun.
Tingle of anticipation tenses fingers.

Full of fright this world may be,
but as undulating mirrors display,
it bends to the whims of the bold.

I smile,
ready for another ride.

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