Ornithology in Prater Park

For a heartbeat,
eighty feet above Vienna
the long arc of the swing pauses long enough to tease
then tip us backwards upside down
to face the tiny people far below.

We plummet like a gannet to the ground
but like a swallow skim the earth
and like a lark ascend the air again;

something in us singing as we go.

(c) A McN

I never normally go near a fairground, never mind a fairground ride. It was life affirming in a funny kind of way - feeling so vulnerable at the top of the scary swing.