the wheel

under a harsh blue
sky
this wheel
on the playground

keeps spinning.

round and round.

my hands grip the cold bars.
my legs splayed out
on the iron
platform.

i feel the grit of sand
in my mouth.

the wind blows
back my coat,

my teeth are exposed
as I go faster,

my hair goes white
and thin.

round and round.

but I hang on
while others fall off.

I see my father disappear,
my mother.
friends become shadows,
then nothing.

it's a world of leaving
when on this wheel.

since childhood
I've been doing this

waiting to be pulled off
and saved.