State Fair Memory, No. 14

With balloon string tightly gripped

In his fingers, candied-apple sticky,

A speck of cotton candy glued to his nose,

He stumbles on his short legs

Over the pebbled path

Till he stops with a shriek of joy,

His cinnamon-red tongue extended in delight

As he bends to dig his baby nails

Into the slick guts of frog remains

Smashed by a random tire in the parking lot.

His mother plucks him from his discovery.

He reaches over her shoulder

Toward the froggy mess

Before I lose sight of them

As they sift into the crowd,

His screams fading beneath the bursts

Of sound from the carnival left behind.

#StateFairs