Phillip Knight Scott is a native of Durham, North Carolina, where he lives and writes poetry. His work has appeared in Scarlet Leaf Review, Vita Brevis, Literary Yard, and Olives Skins, among others.

Carnival

We swim through the fair,
wading through the smell
of funnel cake and other fried treats
threatening to fill our lungs,

deliciously drowning us
amid carnival barkers and juggling dogs,
lights as bright as sunfish
and other sea creatures of a habit.

Children dreaming of cotton candy
hop from the Ferris wheel,
breathing sugar with a taste
of excitement from a summer night

not in school, as we wade upstream,
pushing against the tide
washing through
the school of revelers, baptized at last.