Lake Park

I am falling up a slide

At the amusement park the next town over

A toehook to the navel,

An attractive force dragging towards

The slide built by people both not and like me

Who planned it, designed it, paid for it,

I go up wooshing I could stop

To beat the crowds

We would visit on cloudy days

After dinner

To beat the crowds it was easy

I barely worked and found myself in positions of leverage,

At some point I worked there, too,

Attending to games while families who looked nothing like me collected in lines

Spending their money on cheap toys

And I was there smug

I would spend my money on CDs

I am shaking hands with Donny,

At least in my imagination,

And I know I won’t return for another summer

I will never have to do this to survive

I am falling up a slide

A decade later

It’s not too late, is it?

Can I turn myself around

And come back down where you are?


September 13