Amusement Parks

I am many things I am a roller coaster I am an overpriced funnel cake I am a long line for a short ride I am in on the take I am an unneeded traffic roundabout I am the price of gasoline I am pretty sure that I am self-doubt I am the spent remains of the Fourth of July I am climate change I am the spit in your eye I am death on...

Baptism 1: 1975 Born of Machine At the gates of the Magic Kingdom In a room with a view Disneyland across the street But after nine months in line The ride malfunctioned Lungs not working No time to linger in my mother’s arms To be held close I would have died then and there Without the second womb Made of metal And oxygen   Baptism 2: 1980 Born of Freshwater When I was held At...

I was made in California Born in Disneyland With a busted lung And a broken set of wings So it’s been foot on the ground And wheel on the road Up and down In exile ever since To a cold and distant shore Far from the evening palms And citrus mornings Roots bound In the floor of the van Stunted growth With a beautiful view Has been my holy rolling   Double yellow Single broken...

While it is day And the hope of the next ride The twists and turns The loops and whips The next unexpected plunge Or just the gentle fragrance Of deep-fried-sugar-chicken-oreo- bacon-funnel-cake Still beckons us onward To the longest of lines For the shortest of rides And the best of the worst of the very best worst foods As long as these simple hopes Remain firmly enthroned Inside the enchanted castle No child Ever wants to...

The end of the ride It’s the easy part You don’t even have to try Wrong place right mind Underwater highline The cost of admission Is only your time For a ticket to ride A ticket to fly A ticket to the other side But when it’s all over And you’re day is done Just don’t get hooked No matter how fun You won’t do it again Though some have tried They’ve probably lied About...