a forest is eating a ferris wheel

teenagers still try
to climb up into the baskets 
to kiss-- 
peeling vines 
off one another's bodies--
watch nameless white flowers
unfurl from their lover's ears & nostrils.
the rusted seats wince 
as they rock--
neither considering 
how precarious this all might be.

the forest thinks of the ferris wheel
like a thicket of pretzel sticks--
the humans there like glinting 
crystals of salt.
the forest is jealous 
of the humans though because they 
get to hold each other.
the forest hold onto the ferris wheel
& pretends it could be a knot of trees--
that maybe by clutching it 
the trees might ascend from 
their rust & replant themselves
in the earth.

the couple considers the clouds 
& whether or not they would support 
the weight of their bodies.
they laugh & one reaches
balancing on the ferris wheel,
catching the edge of a cloud.
the cloud is coarse as steel wool
& so they let go & decide
that the only place they 
can be in love in the ferris wheel
& they will stay there for 
the rest of their lives.
they regret that this isn't a carnival
& that the ferris wheel has no light
& there's no thick sweet funnel cake smell.

the forest makes a carnival of itself--
light bulbs swelling from the necks of trees
& flickering with brief electricity.
the forest pretends these humans aren't
in love with each other but rather
are in love with the depths of the trees
& the green all around them.
the forest finds apples in the chests 
of trees & wild blue berries tangled
in the thoughts of bushes--
dropping the fruit around the ferris wheel.

the couple eats by feeding 
each bite to the other--
berry by berry. they are young & 
carnival music naturally comes from 
their warm skin.
they kiss with tongue 
like neither of them have before. 
mouths full 
of candied bone--
calliope tongue. 

the forest tries to make itself
a body, casting shadows 
in all directions, none of them
becoming flesh. the forest
churns the ferris wheel faster 
until the couple is dizzy,
stumbles back onto the earth
where they fall out of love instantly
& leave going separate directions.
slowing the ferris wheel down 
the forest sits with itself--
flicks the carnival lights 
on & off