Merry-Go-Round
By Kathy Armijo

Playing at the park as a kid was great fun.
We’d take turns pushing the merry-go-round, then, jump on.
The ride was always too short.
So we’d start over again and again and again.
We’d ride until we were dizzy.

How many things in life have turned into that merry-go-round?
Work?
Family?
Leisure?
Is it still fun?
Or, are you always on the run?

Do you ever want to just stop and play?
I often think of this throughout the day.
Wouldn’t it be a treat to just run away, and
Go to the park and have some childish fun?
Play on the merry-go-round?
Slide down the slide?
Or, get pushed on the swing,
Going higher and higher into the sky?

So often, I’ve envisioned a new high-tech merry-go-round.
This new merry-go-round has a remote control –
Because I get tired running.
And, of course it gives me the same old wonderful thrill.
Only, now I’m hoping I won’t get ill.

To be that care-free kid, again:
Enjoying life’s simple amusements.
Going round and round
With no particular place to go.

Yes, the merry-go-round is exhilarating.
Wish I had one in my back yard
Then I could always be a kid, again!
Woops!  Where’s the remote control?