“Last chance to see”

The woman in the scales

come one, come all

to the Mermaid in a stall

The man in the checkered suit

waves his gloved hands at the tent

last chance to see

a bit of remaining wonder

a con that only the guileless believed

but we went anyway,

spending our meager cents

for a moment with a woman

who all pretended to be

more than a woman

we needed to believe in something

more than the cars on the road,

the orbs of light on the streets,

and the skyscrapers growing into the sky

we needed a moment that recalled

when humanity lived in fear of the dark,

and knocked wood to keep the fairies away.

Electricity exposed the outlines of our magic

We still need the dark.