Riding the Swan

free verse Carousel poem

Wouldn’t you know
I’d be stuck in the swan
With two little girls that I’m minding tonight!
“Oh, look, it’s a swan!” one said.
“Please can we float in it?
Float to the moon in the beautiful swan?”

“Look,” I said, “Lea, don’t you see the horses,
Black ones and brown ones, and even a unicorn!
Look at their ribbons, their flowers,” I told her.
You could be galloping, up and down, up and down,
While the carousel turns in its course.

But no. She won’t take a horse.

I wanted the horse, the one on the outside,
So I could look all around as we go.
I could see friends out there.
I could feel beautiful.
Up and down, up and down,
Waving, smiling, turning slowly.

So we ride the swan and float to the moon,
In this dumb little go-nowhere boat.
But I’m smiling in case, just in case
You are watching
An elegant princess on the back of a swan.