Crown of bobby pins and bandana,
   she hoists a beer bottle scepter,
   dime store paste royal necklace,
   moth holed sweater Queen's cape,
   her well worn lawn chair throne.
   She keeps watch from  her tower,
   surveys her realm on Alcott Lane.
   Nothing escapes the queen's watch.

I still see you in the garden
strong and bent over tearing
weeds from the fragile flowers
keeping our children safe.
We're Jews in Berlin in 1938.
A dragon's breath is on our necks.
A crooked cross beckons to nail
us to some wooden hatred.

I was born in the deepest winter storm.
Made by God's own children I was packed
strong and given heart and brain and courage.
I was destined for great things but couldn't move.
I knew the meaning of life and was God's voice.
I was mute and by summer I was forgotten.

Coney Island, Cincinnati

   You were glorious and spectacular
   more fun than a barrel of monkeys
   a thrill a minute with roller coasters
   and Ferris wheels and side shows, cotton
   candy and near beer to persuade dates
   to the tunnel of love and a kiss or 2.
  
   Now the splendor is just rusted iron
   and rotted wood and peeling paint and
   graffiti and broken windows. We live
   old and fat and bald in misery we got
   used to long ago. We ride this Beast in
   terror and thrills to our bitter ends.

Time
Space
Gravity
Appetites
Addictions
Scars
Broke bones
and hearts
History
Trapped in a body
Caged in a mind

I have nightmares and dreams.
  I hope for the best and fear the worst.
  I'm just one of God's creatures in a zoo
  called my mind. Walls everywhere I can't
  go beyond. Gravity, time, our biology
  keep me inside my tiny world tethered
  to my appetites. Will death set me free?
 I live again in nightmares and dreams.

Life's a carnival, a festival and
    a tragedy and comedy in one pie.
    It's a terrifying and wild roller coaster
    and that first time in the deep end
    when you thought you'd never find
    another breath but did. It is lost
    time in the bumper car ride at Coney.
    It's kissing grandma's corpse goodbye.