The Playground

By: Ellie Mak

yesterday I ventured out only

to find my limbs intertwined with bitter pills

grappling at dreams too high, or too low

we’re too tall for this carnival

but I can’t seem to find my pace

with the people with somewhere to be either

Mama, I don’t want to grow up!

we look with disdain

with thin lips and arms crossed

like the grown-ups with their forever ticking clocks

down at the ones too naive to know

this carousel ride doesn’t last forever and I want to scream

that when the merry-go-round loses its wonder

the earth spins on without a chance to catch our breath

and you’ll wish you could stay with the horsies forever

Mama, I don’t want to grow up!

but if you close your eyes

and slip into the silk darkness beneath the eyelids

listen, it rings like sweet nostalgia

in the ears of those who’ve learned to swallow

hard truths like fruit punch

glass after glass until imagination hangs only by a thread

Mama, I don’t want to grow up!