When the Carnival Comes to Town

Bright lights. Big top tents. The sound of laughter and carnival music filling the dusky night sky.

A reminder of Sunny Worthing

These are the things I think of when I imagine the quintessential carnival of movies and books. Remember the cotton candy? The sugar disappearing on my tongue,  turning it a bright blue. Elephant ears sanded with coarse grains of sugar. Corn dogs on popsicle sticks,  enrobed with a crispy batter, golden brown.

I must say, while I have been to a seafront pop-up amusement park and the circus, there is a certain charm to carnivals. There is something ethereal, almost terrifying at times, about the affair. The idea of having your fortune told in a stuffy tent, walking blindly through a house of mirrors and gawking shamelessly at the "freaks" creates a magical world outside of time.

This is a little poem of when the seafront was filled with lights for a weekend. When I wandered in the dark and felt lost in light.

Carnival Rides

The sun has fallen

          Below the horizon

And walking along the boardwalk

          Are couples,
                        Singles,
                                   Groups of errant teenagers

It's dark; streetlamps light the way

          And strung along are Christmas lights
                        Baubles of glass and power

In the distance, something spins

          A swirl of flashing lights
                        A cacophony of screams

The carnival has come to Worthing

            Night rides fill the street
                        Lining the rocks
                                    Like colorful beach huts

In the daylight, they are amusements

But in the moonshine, they become more

            More fun
                        More exciting
                                    More of a temptation