It's Still Life

Goldfish, Candy Floss and the Incident with the Merry-Go-Round

The stars were upset that night.
Sunburn kept Dad awake, which
kept Mum awake, and if we’d had
a dog, it would’ve been awake, too.

But we only had a goldfish.

It lived in a large bowl with a castle
for it to swim in and out of because
‘A man’s castle is his home’. My dad
always said something like that.

I won that goldfish at the local fair.
I can’t remember how. Not for being
smart, that’s for sure. At 8, you’re
just at the start of being stupid.

I remember a few things about that day.

The merry-go-round’s diesel engine
puffed a wide spread of blue smoke,
and then blew up in a rain of sparks.
The horses stopped. The music stopped.

A girl with pink candy floss stuck
in her hair stared at a string of lights
flickering on and off. I remember
a passing scent of flowers, but it was

just that girl with candy floss walking by.

A memory sparked by a prompt from Be.Quick. Image is from there also.Shared with @Miz_Quickly and @Experimentsinfc #APoemADay on Twitter   ©Misky 2021