Carnival

Carnival

Want to go back 1973, to the carnival?

Ride the painted horse on the merry-go-round.

Watch for that one familiar face

in the blur of the noisy crowd.

Ride the painted horse on the merry-go-round

overwhelmed by music and flashing lights.

In the blur of the noisy crowd

you need something sturdy to hold on to.

Overwhelmed by music and flashing lights

ride the octopus and the Ferris wheel

You need something sturdy to hold on to

in the threshold between terror and delight.

Ride the octopus and Ferris wheel

then take a walk through the house of mirrors.

In the threshold between terror and delight

how odd the changes you see in yourself.

When you take a walk in the house of mirrors

all that you think is true will change.

How odd the changes you see in yourself.

What is illusion? What is real?

All that you think is true will change

when you try to go back to the carnival.

What is illusion? What is real?

Where is that one familiar face?

by Sarah Fairchild     1973

~ ~ ~

Notes:

→ The date is my best guess; 1973: during or after high school.

→ I suspect, from repeated lines, that this is either some form, or an attempt at some recognizable "form" -- which I do not recognize.