Annie
across the street
the carousel was calling
and my kid heard
laid down a $20
and bought some memories
and then some
the woman standing next to me,
a grandmother watching her granddaughter,
she tells me that Annie’s 6
and how happy she is to see her laughing
she could have stopped there
and said, “have a good day …”
but didn’t
Annie had a baby brother
but that was three years ago
it was a hot day
too hot to be left in a car
for that long
the on-duty officer turned the grandfather away
and then threw up
the mother, drugged out of her mind, had forgotten
her baby
now, she’s serving time
and her daughter, Annie, is growing up
without a mother, without a brother
she’s got her dad, but not really
her grandparents are the ones
who take her to town
to ride the carousel
TL