2011 Issue - Santa Fe Community College

Yesterday Sonnet
by Michelle Holland
Carrousel stories strike a garish organ chord, vivid
in the lie that there is anything to reach for
from the back of a shiny pony on a pole.
Don’t you lean, lean and reach for the brass ring
I paid the barker’s fee, clutched the coupons
in my hands, chose the mount with the least
paint chipped off, both ears intact, the red tassel
still in place, and pulled myself aboard.
Mid-day sun, the barn smells from the big tent,
the sawdust between my flip-flopped toes,
all served to convince me of my purpose.
Yesterday, I was ten years old, my mother
told me the brass ring was mine for the taking.
Now, I don’t have a clue which horse to ride, where to look.
66 Santa Fe Literary Review