M is for Merry-Go-Round

ABC Wednesday round 8 has reached the halfway point with the letter M. Click on link or banner to find what participating bloggers have posted.

The Merry-Go-Round
at Tilden Park

Anna (at left) on Tilden Park Merry-Go-Round

The painted horses go round and around
To the lilt of steam organ’s old-fashioned sound.
Go up, go down, go round and around
The Merry-Go-Round goes round and around
The years go around and around.

The toddler rides with laughs of delight
With Daddy beside her to hold her tight
And the years go around, up day, down night
And the Merry-Go-Round goes around.

The ups are winning, no downs today
As teenagers come to the park to play
And the sun shines bright on the Merry-Go-Round
And the years go around and around.

When did the years start to spin so fast
And the feet slow down? But the memories last
Of child and child’s child, now outward bound
And the years go around and around.

Who would have thought that I’d need to cry
When the steed you rode on came bounding by
Without you on it, that years would fly
As the Merry-Go-Round spun around.

My husband, Otto, and our grandson, Dr. Byron Shock,
without the dignity which their respective PhDs might imply,
ride the Tilden Merry-Go-Round.

The painted horses go round and around
To the lilt of the steam organ’s old-fashioned sound
Go up, go down, go around and around
The Merry-Go-Round goes around
And the years go around and around.

April 14, 2011 Phyllis Sterling Smith

Raw

Intransigence

Take this hideous razored grief
so sharp in every part,
its spines all tipped with poison
and pointed at your heart.

Muffle it with music,
rub it down with prayer,
thrust it out and close the door,
pretend it isn’t there.

Watch closely, though, for treachery
when handling it tomorrow;
a grief is very hard to tame
into a decent sorrow.

Phyllis Sterling Smith

See other responses by Sunday Scribblers to the prompt of RAW.