the roller coaster ride

your mother tells
the story
of when your uncle
and his girlfriend
got stuck on a roller
coaster,
how it slammed
everyone forward,
lurching to a halt,
causing him
to beak his nose
on the safety bar.
the blood was
all over his white
suit, she says.
using her hands
to demonstrate
how that would look.
oh, the blood.
she stops the story
at this point,
shaking her head
and says, why would
anyone wear a white
suit to a carnival?
your uncle was a strange
man, she says,
then continues on.
the firemen had
to put their ladders
up to get everyone
down. they all had
to climb down from
the rickety rails
and boards, the metal
cars. everyone was scared
and crying. then everyone
got lawyers and sued,
she says, they all got
thousands of dollars.
thousands, but not me.
I was too scared to
get on, but I wished I
had. I wished I had.