it's not cotton candy, though it may seem so

here I go again

into the amusement park

all the shining lights,
the smells, the noise
the relentlessness

it's familiar, it's new every time:
same faces, new unpredictabilities
same reactions, new outlets
same joys -- same sorrows and pains

and just like every time,
I'll get a bit sick,
I'm exhausted afterwards

brain in turmoil

and just like every time,
ask I walk through the gate and into the night,
I'm wearing the smile
that came with the entrance ticket