He, a grunty man, tall as a telephone pole,
lifted me up. "You little pup," he rasped.
In the park for my 10th birthday, I swung
on the swingy swing, and my friends gasped
when he pushed me so high high high, I flew
through blue sky and into the leafy bush,
unscathed. "I'm sorry, babe." He fingered
my hair, his eyes all teary. "I didn't mean--"
I ran back to my friends. We did the slide
and then the merry-go-round. Lying there
on the metal, I watched the trees zoom by,
and then he'd be there in the spin. Faster,
faster, faster--he spun right into a blip,
and then all the trees blended together,
and everything got drunk.