Tonight's Poet Corner: A Lovely Outing

A Lovely Outing
by Belinda Roddie

Put on your dapper shoes, 'cause
we're going to the Ferris wheel
and rising to the top so we can
touch the constellations. They'll
feel like spider webs against our
rough, callused fingers, still sore
from digging in the earth and planting
dreams that never take root.

You saved up a lot of money just
to buy those dapper shoes, and I
got myself a bowtie with a hue
to match the sunrise, a burst
of orange and gold to rival the
explosive size and color of
the real thing in an autumn dawn.

Maybe one day, we'll be able
to ride the bumper cars, too, if
we could scrounge up some extra
silver from the corners of our shack.
Father said to savor every moment
under this wild canopy of stars, 'cause
you and I are so small, and this roller
coaster of a vacuum is so damn big.