James Thomas Hazard
Beeping boxes, a long squeaky hall
He hears them tangled in tubes and wires
As lemon drop lights emblazon the wall,
Horses with eyes that sparkle like fire
Nurses pad in their blue pajamas
In the morning they’ll take him to the sugary
That makes him think of oats and bananas,
Rolls mother buys at the Mexican bakery
Nothing to do till it’s time for sleep
So he tries to make the carousel spin
To watch the painted horses leap
Around the mirrors again and again
But the wheel won’t turn, hard as he tries
He’ll wait for the nurse with the black curly hair
Who sees the medicine dream in his eyes
The one who hitches a ride from Nowhere
“Water and ice, earth and fire
Turn the world over and turn the world round
The fallen will rise like horses for hire
And step over bones beasts dig from the ground”
The nurse grips a poll then gives it a push
And round and round the carousel goes
The gold and the glass whirl by in a rush
To somewhere. To nowhere. Nobody knows