Arcade Games

I’m suspended, numb, upside down.

Flashes of the past seconds play back on repeat.

Dirt tickles my mouth, stings my eyes, tangles my hair.

There is no landscape outside my window, just darkness.

Why is my seatbelt so tight

Why is this awful silence surrounding me

Why can’t I see the sky that was so clear just minutes ago

But the silence is replaced–

Claustrophobic screams are jarring

Get her out, get her out

Lift her up, un-belt her, we are robots, pushing, connecting with

Unfamiliar arms that pull her from our entrapment.

A breeze swirls around us

but all the windows were closed

The only window left is mine

A glass spider web.

The strange arms keep reaching in

Closing around a passenger, then retracting

Like one of those impossible toy-grabber games at the mall.

Ding ding ding, winner, the arms found me last

I hope they got their money’s worth.

I was right side up again

Laughing as the car’s tires spun in the air, confused.

All four girls were in one piece

I had a bump, she had a scratch.

And then we looked at each other

And all began to cry.