Eyes
through chain-link mesh
analyze from afar—
a million amusements.
From close—
a hefty gate price
for a wrist stamp of approval
to access the attractions in her mind.

Rigged ring tosses,
Water gun races—
darts with microscopic targets
visitors must ace—
for the meager prize she displays.

At every fixed game—
faces aching to play,
willing to wait
to get lost in the maze
within her house of mirrors,
where eyes see idealized beauty
small, wide, distorted—
multiplied.

Stacking tickets
for the horrors
in her haunted mansion—
for cadavers hidden in her closet and corridors—
Ghosts looming
in the growing graveyard of her yesteryears.

Blinding carousel light,
bumper car-induced daze.
Her cotton candy’s sweet taste,
spiced corn’s rough crunch—
all worth it—
for a place
in her tunnel of love.