riding the merry-go-round
not the kind with horses
but the one on the playground
in your neighborhood
before the safety police
decided everybody was made of glass
and pulled them out
putting down recycled tire rubber mats
before that though
riding and riding
around around around around
hanging onto the outside bars
being thrown off by the repulsive
magnetic force of a centrifuge
peeling off like an old skin
everything whirls past
a top
you’re the top
but the whole world revolves
around you fast
because motion is relative
until some bigger kid
grabs the wheel
mid-spin
stops it suddenly, completely with
bigger kid brute strength
and you fly off into the sand
because this is before we were made of glass
and our bones didn’t break inside
but our skin peeled off
and blossomed
Words and Feathers 
…but our skin peeled off and blossomed” – Enjoyed the poem very much and love those last lines!
Thank you. I like that line too!
I am in awe of your skill.
Happy to be the top.
Thanks very much!
Wow! (I’m a bit dizzy though–never could ride those things.) 😉
Love those last lines, too.
Thanks!
And yet there is still something ecstatic about that brief moment flying through the air before impact. Great image.
Thank you. Very true about that brief flight.
“Blossoming” was a great word to use here! I can imagine the skin blossoming from the cut that kids get when they’re playing hard and with so much energy. Then we grow up, and a paper cut makes us cry. Haha! Really superb making the connections in your words. xo
We all get boo-boos. 😘
Some boo-boos are more fun than others. I don’t mind getting bruised here. 😀 x
Who ah there!
My friend came off a ’roundabout’ at high speed. You could see his elbow bone through his shredded skin after that, once you picked the gravel out of the way.
Ugh. 🤢