What is a heart? Circling, crow said:
a Ferris-wheel. Loved ones clambering in
at the bottom, belting tight, handrail down, up,
up, and overhead to vistas of love and all. Whee!
Yet nobody ever gets off, only on.
I must build ever more gondolas, bigger and bigger,
standing room only now, gingerly add more spokes,
longer and higher, everything faster and better.
Fade that Mr. George Washington Gale Ferris Jr.,
the wheel's inventor – his body on fire with typhoid fever,
turning and turning endlessly in his bed –
died penniless, his ashes unclaimed. So there's that.
Because I’m a rinky-dink carny, a huckster
with my 25 cent rides in a field outside of town. It's just
me to collect the tickets, clean the johns, sell
the popcorn and cotton candy, make lemonade
out of life’s lemons. In the midway dirt, crow
pecks at busted foil balloons. Let’s change this up. What if
instead the heart is a yo-yo: all whiplash and whirl
falling in love. Or steady spin around the axis of marriage –
Walking the Dog and Rock the Baby. Yes, those
will do. You, crow, plucked at the string in my chest’s hidey-hole
and winged away to your nest. Furious, wild, it’s Around
the World, I am undone.
My heart is flying saucers, pizza dough tossed high,
unicycles with fire eaters, zodiacs, everything
that turns under the galaxy’s carnival lights. Whee. Wheel.
Crow watches from the bend in her oak tree.
For Shay’s Word Garden
qbit 
Oh my! This was totally worth waiting (and nagging a little) for! Fantastic stuff, qbit. Who else would have thought of comparing hearts with carny rides and kids’ toys? And the tidbit about the inventor! I am going to search Ferris because now I’m curious! I want this poem framed on my wall. It’s that good.
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Thank you so much! Yeah, the Ferris rabbit-hole was super interesting, enjoy the ride.
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I so love everything about this poem Qbit!!! I love the metaphors and how it is light yet utterly moving much like a Ferris-wheel is! A poem of love that like Shay said, only you could have written! Brilliant and beautiful!!!
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Thank you Carrie!!!
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“What if
instead the heart is a yo-yo: all whiplash and whirl
falling in love.”
“Because I’m a rinky-dink carny, a huckster”
Your poetry is certainly a full-on carnival experience, funnel cake to funhouse.
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Funnel cake! Awesome yes.
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Love this! Love is like a carnival. You never know which game will cost you the most.
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Ahahaha. I cut the stanza about the House of Horrors, lol!
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