Minnesota State Fair, 1969

Cotton candy and corn dogs
and stock car races that shook the ground.
The hippodrome, the carnival rides,
the barker's enticing cries.
Young girls I would never see again
and voices that were all lies.
The deafening sound of fireworks,
the lost feeling of being in a crowd.
The children were all screaming
and no one could be found.

The Minnesota Eight
and a war raging on far away.
The smell of burnt rubber
and insecticide.
Standing silently in a long line
waiting for my turn.

Published in Liquid Words.