Funfair: The River Caves

Sitting in a bar
while rain taps like fetid nails
on the glass.

A lightning flash
shows me a figure
from the past.

I wave my hand at him
and he's gone.
I knew he was the same
frightened kid who wouldn't
open his eyes at the River Caves.

I drove to Blackpool
looking for him again
seeing faces in the dark
and stopping occasionally.

But I knew i'd have to go all the way back to
the funfair and sail the circumference of the dinosaur tour.
So unusually cold, and those damn bumpy mechanics.

Thrust into into the light
and over that red Tom Sawyer wheel
like a gambling boat, I was at home.
Splashed by the gondola
as it rushed down the slope, I was fufilled.

Always my favourite ride
and I still have the photo
in that brown sweater
being coaxed by my Dad
to open my eyes
and see The River Caves.