We walk, hand in hand , we talk ~
cotton candy and caramel apples,
music, rides and fanfare,
sounds of joy and laughter in the air.
Let the festivities commence:
flashing lights and chaos,
screams and giggles,
rides and arcade games.
The carnies are hyped up
with their wiles and guiles
to entice us in all ways.
Summer is not complete 'til
we’ve had our fun at the carnival.
Reality and time warped ~
our youth tangible
within our grasp
under the spell of unbridled
gaiety at the carnival.
The sights and sounds of
youth and joy and memories.
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Categories:
carnies, celebration, joy, light, summer,
Form: Free verse
The hum of the motors that run the rides,
watching cars on tracks going up and down.
Squeals and screams from all those children that ride,
scrambler, octopus, and merry-go-round.
From the excitement of the tilt-a-whirl,
to the view from atop the Ferris wheel.
Stealing kisses from your favorite girl,
how wonderful the county fair did feel.
There were carnies barking out to the crowd,
telling us all about their games of chance.
Spend a dollar to win a ten-cent bear,
was all part of the county fair’s romance.
Toss a ball at a milk can pyramid,
trying to knock them over if you can.
If you can manage to do it just right,
then you might win your girl a paper fan.
Popcorn, cotton candy, and funnel cakes,
things that a fairgoer can’t live without.
Live country music at the beer garden,
that’s where all the older folks would hang out.
Seems there was a contest for just about,
everything that is possible to judge.
People hoping for red, or blue ribbons,
on their pigs or cows or jellies or fudge.
Categories:
carnies, poetry,
Form: Rhyme
They came in hot, and they came in hard.
What are they? Asked our strangest bard.
They were readily lead in by a lark bunting bird,
We had not a guess, not an idea, not a word.
They were at the carnival fair, is true.
We rarely see the likes of you!
Said one rude dude, whose name is Boon.
We shushed him away, and faced the moon.
The moon did not speak, but had a party hat.
As did the turquoise owl, the boy and the cat.
They were a strange lot, with a dancing mouse.
Wearing a lavender tutu, a ballerina in Touse!
Dressed as jesters, as clowns, and such.
We were intrigued and excited, so very much.
The knight’s horse wore a fancy shawl.
Welcome! We carnies said. “One and all!”
Categories:
carnies, imagination,
Form: Quatrain
As the Dime Store sirens flared
bolts of irradiated invite,
my query was denied.
Their pimp-striped pilots only moaned,
their lust fueled by encapsulated
stench carried only by toothless carnies
from the canyons. Canyons o’ Crazed Confliction.
And behind… the dull dynamo hum.
I screamed for the Kelp Queen to come to me,
her tresses woven wave-like in the wabe.
My demands were simple.
The scars of the trucker's she must carry
(as war carries death)
for inbreeding has tainted her line.
“Can Omaha be far?” she pleaded
and tugged at my inter-ache
as tin balloons tug with time .
“For you?” I replied in a
flatulent belch.
The boiling madness was by now
beyond the horizon but kept in check
still by the neon dogs crouching by day under the interchange.
It is they who will now stalk the disease plagued ports
I sailed from so many
days
and
images
ago.
Until her kleptic crew of vagrants and priests
sprint with me in postpartum harmony.
Hipsters for TRUTH.
Categories:
carnies, dream, fantasy, imagery, nonsense,
Form: Narrative
Chalkware was a 40’s hit in our small Midwest town.
The carnies let some win, when the gamblers came around
My aunt had a collection
Cherished them with affection
Put them in her dishwasher and mowed them all down.
Categories:
carnies, hilarious, humor, humorous,
Form: Limerick
Have I been too long at the fair?
by Michael R. Burch
Have I been too long at the fair?
The summer has faded,
the leaves have turned brown;
the Ferris wheel teeters . . .
not up, yet not down.
Have I been too long at the fair?
This is one of my earliest poems, written around age 15 when my family was living with my grandfather in his house on Chilton Street, within walking distance of the Nashville fairgrounds. I remember walking to the fairgrounds, stopping at a Dairy Queen along the way, and swimming at a public pool. I believe the Ferris wheel only operated during the state fair, so my “educated guess” is that this poem was written during the 1973 state fair, or shortly thereafter. I remember watching people hanging suspended in mid-air, waiting for carnies to deposit them safely on terra firma again, neither all the way up nor all the way down. Keywords/Tags: Fair, State Fair, Amusement, Amusements, Carny, Carnies, Ferris Wheel, Roller Coaster, Leaves, Dangling, Suspended, Fall, Falling, Limbo, Big Top, Big Show, Circus, Carnival, Sideshow, Gypsy, Gypsies, Summer, Autumn, Child, Childhood
Categories:
carnies, absence, allegory, allusion, analogy,
Form: Verse
I’ve got no beef with McDonald’s or Jack
‘n the Box weighing down American towns
with greasy sacks in thin hospital gowns.
They’re just a couple of clowns selling crack
to cavalier carnies who’d like fries with that
six thousand calorie corpulent noun
with a large diet Coke to wash it all down.
Where I live (Houston) everyone is fat.
Me, you, black, white, brown, yellow, straight, gay, trans:
fat, fat, fat. Even the bum, with nothing but
a cardboard savior and his corporate name,
who begs from corners with two open hands
that dropped Vietnam, is blessed with a gut
that knows for greed to starve would break the game.
Categories:
carnies, america, corruption, satire, slavery,
Form: Italian Sonnet
Spring is fast approaching; it's warm outside,
meaning the carnival will arrive soon.
In my youth, I'd watch carnies set up rides
while the popcorn popper whistled a tune.
I loved to ride on the merry-go-round:
it was like riding a galloping horse.
Nothing else ever felt as good to me:
having tried all the other rides, of course.
There were gypsies to predict your future,
whose intentions you had to consider.
For they'd peddle their magical trinkets,
to the superstitious highest bidder.
I recall when I was a little boy
how the carnival brought me so much joy.
Categories:
carnies, beautiful, feelings, fun, happiness,
Form: Sonnet
When I was young, I wanted to run away to the circus. Then one day I realized the circus was life! Are we not the clown, the strongman, the freak, the daredevil? Is there not personal sorrow and the desperate search for pleasure? The flying trapeze man and woman are in love, and every performance, they risk the breaking of their heart. When one almost falls to their death, the audience cries out, and then claps even louder! The freak show is hidden in the back, though its location is well known to local politicians. Then to play the games on the midway, with its crooked carnies, rigged set ups, and worldly women. The city is 'the big top', its chaotic gyrations and jaded excitements, all part of the show. The grandstands are filled with 'television head' people, buzzing with excitement. See the eye of the tiger, hear the trumpet of that greatest of beasts, cowl at the jungle kings exclamation! Later that night, a young boy lying in bed, wonders if it was just a dream. Then, far off in the distance, a whispering growl was heard!
Categories:
carnies, metaphor,
Form: Dramatic Monologue
I suppose the prez is proud of his mealy-mouthed spokesman Carney.
('Carnies' are carnival touts famous for spewing a heap of blarney!)
I think I'm quite well-versed and understand the English language well
But when I hear his party-line spin on things, I get perturbed as hell!
Carney keeps spouting "No worries! Obamacare will not change a thing!"
That's lingo I comprehend, but, alas, that to which many gullible patsies cling!
Not surprising, it turns out to be piffle, fiddle-faddle and downright balderdash!
Alas, many folks are seeing sticker shock and their insurance coverage crash!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
(c) All Rights Reserved
Categories:
carnies, humorous, political,
Form: Couplet
Hearsay on what love is today
Lives stretched thin for parchment paper bridges
Twice over crossed
Trampled, trodden, lost hearts in clouds
While rain was wringing out my hair
Let down my gaurd
Tasting peppermint Chard ment to
Cling to a tree until my help arrived
At mydestiney without you
Speak to me over shallow tones of flesh
Glistening nipples to nurse a drink as I sit
On this step and contest how much you don't know me
And him on a pendulum
Swaying choir sings at your wedding
To the kind of bleeding it out
With the Rugrats on a network of Carnies
Laughing at the man in the Emporers clothes
Worn tight hanging on to mornings light
Turned on then blown out
For renowned satisfaction
Due to your lack of actions
Speak louder than words
On a new world order
Signed on as the Natural Selection
Copywrite©Ameaca 2012
Categories:
carnies, art, fear, inspirational, introspection,
Form: I do not know?