Raw Earth Ink
spit, mixed with dirt – muddy words flow
Carousel (meet me at the carnival pt 2)
Painted cheeks and a fistful of tokens
Girly giggles tugging daddy’s hand with
Cotton candy fingers
Screaming horses stampeding past
Wearing saddles of red and blue
A trumpeting elephant, trunk held high
The giant white rooster’s purple saddle
Garish music begins slowly
Building in tempo and volume
Smudged faces racing past
Gripping striped poles
Covered in handprints four generations deep
Laughter locking in memories
He remembers his own daddy’s face
Wire-rimmed specs and a thin-lipped smile
Never too busy for his little boy
tara caribou | ©2020
23 Comments on “Carousel (meet me at the carnival pt 2)”
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Raw Earth Ink 
Love this!
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That makes me happy.
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Really good work!!
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Great! This is turning into a must-read series of poems 🙂
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Hey, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.
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Covered in handprints four generations deep. How beautiful! To return with your child to the same place that you had wonderful memories of. This is life.
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Thanks Rob, I’m glad you liked it.
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Wonderful!
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Thanks Sheri!
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Yup, this is an incredible line-
‘Covered in handprints four generations deep’
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I’m glad you liked it!
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Me too. I hate reading lame stuff.
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Funny…. me too. Huh. Who knew we had so much in common?! lol
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I also don’t like falling down and splitting my head open on the edge of a step. How about you?
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Oh wow! Stories! I had no idea!! It’s Serendipity!!! LOL
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Star-crossed, we are.
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This was a bit more eerie than I anticipated, but then again, so are carousels… all those frozen animals gleaming with the varnish, that music.. (shudders) So in a way this captured that feeling. But more than that, I liked that we were seeing this from the boy’s perspective. I could almost see the flashing, golden lights all around the carousel. Well done!
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YESSS!!! I’m glad you visualized it.
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It was easy. The poem did the work for me!
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Cool!
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Love the vivid character snapshots you weave throughout that really bring the scene alive! Beautifully immersive – can picture it perfectly!
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Wonderfully evocative, Tara.
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Thanks Chris! I had a fun time writing this series.
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