Greagoir O Duill
Rollercoaster
And well do I remember the excitement
as it grew, girders, painted panels, sweaty men in Tshirts
in early summer as sun shed girls’ clothes
found new thirsts in us, the boys.
Watching her for days, the clumsy greeting
as my friends mocked. Yes, a candy floss, thank you
and sweetness caked around our adolescent lips
and we went on eating long after desire for spent sugar spent
because we did not know what else to say with our mouths.
Counting the coins in my hot pocket, worriedly
I ask would she take the ride and, yes, she would.
Friends hooted, the queue was purgatory, but she kept talk light
and we went on through the arch, settled in seats, and clumsily
fixed a steel bar to our hips.
The rise and loop of it, the fall and sway, the view, the fear
as she seized my hand and seized it to her thigh.
Church spires shrank, the sea surged, her small teeth bared
and speed increased to hurricane proportions—but
fear was held in check by her small teeth, her flying hair
the steel bar on our hips.
Page(s) 46
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