The Carousel by Zachary Schomburg

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend March 29, 2016   The Carousel   Zachary Schomburg

I’m in a carousel. The kind that spins people to the wall. There is a woman and a man and a man inside of it too, and a man operating it. Everybody I love is looking down at me, laughing. When I die, I’ll die alone. I know that much, held down by my own shadow, wanting to touch the woman, the man, the man, across the curvature. I won’t be able to even look. I’m on a train. I’m a tiny spider. A tiny star. Or a giant spider. When everything stops, I’ll open the only door to the carousel and it’ll be the wrong one I’ve forgotten entering.            Copyright © 2016 Zachary Schomburg. Used with permission of the author. About This Poem   “There is this scene in the film 400 Blows where Antoine is struggling inside a moving carousel at the carnival. Other kids are above him, looking in, maybe laughing. I’ve only watched the film once, years ago, but I think about that scene sometimes when I wake up or fall asleep. How the force pulls and pushes at you in a carousel. I remember a couple kissing next to him. Yeah, the kids were definitely laughing. That’s what I remember anyway.” —Zachary Schomburg   Zachary Schomburg is the author of The Book of Joshua (Black Ocean, 2014). He coedits Octopus Books and lives in Portland, Oregon. Poetry by Schomburg   The Book of Joshua (Black Ocean, 2014) "Poem Interrupted by Whitesnake" by Timothy Donnelly "Song" by Brigit Pegeen Kelly "Introduction to the World" by Matthea Harvey Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038