If I can bring it back to mind
This is how it must have looked like,
When I was a child

The cotton candy, the pink,
The lights,
The cool night air
On my skin

Cries of joy and mirth
At the thrill of being swung around
On the Octopus
As you held my hand
Wrapped up in your arms
I was secure in the mad mess
Of screaming kids
And swirling lights

I would request, entreat,
Beg, plead, whine, cajole
And bribe with good behavior
In hopes that you would
Bring me there again

And each time we went
I smiled with the firm knowledge
That life was truly wonderful

But one day
Wonderland got dismantled
And we could no longer go there

So now I keep
This memory in my mind
Fresh and untouched
By the passing years