Coney Island

 

(after a Wenger watercolor)

 

Legs under the pier,

Legs under the bar,

I clamor for a seat

on the fairest wheel—

nights poised high,

morning’s nauseous whirl,

promises as flimsy as my motel blanket.

Rusty Nails, Stingers—

weapons that draw blood,

no bored walk for me, I dance

to the honky-tonk tinkle.

 

 

 

 

Peggy Garrison’s work has appeared in The Literary Review, Slant, Rockhurst Review, Barrow Street and Heliotrope. She teaches writing workshops at New York University.