Round and Round

Round and Round 

“And the seasons they go round and round  

 And the painted ponies go up and down  

 We are captive on the carousel of time  

 We cannot return we can only look 

  Behind from where we came  

 And go round and round and round  

 In the circle game” 

Circle Game, Joan Mitchell March 22,1966   

So many lives and lifetimes, gone round 

and round in a circle game, we are wild children 

stone drunk from too many turns around 

the Maypole, flags ripped to fly free 

upon the winds of debauchery. 

Days and nights round and round, 

months turn to years to decades, 

and in the end, to century’s demarcation. 

So many lives and lifetimes and all we can 

remember to do, is put one foot in front 

and then another, as the court jester 

shouts boys and girls, ladies, and gentlemen,

no matter your age, raise your drinking gourds, 

a toast to the wee gods, goddesses, sprites,

and fairies that keep us tethered to the old 

round and round and round, if you know what I mean.

©Paul Goldman May 3, 2022

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