Roller Coaster: a Poem

Author:

As a lifelong reader and writer, Liz writes articles and poetry. She also enjoys watching and reviewing movies.

Hang on Tight!

Coasting

Eager anticipation;

hint of trepidation.

Hang on tight

for dear life

Start the climb,

hold your breath.

No, breathe in slow…

Feeling of heaviness

shoving you down.

Then crest the hill

in dizzying fall

Breath expels

an involuntary scream

of release.

Round and through;

in and under you speed.

Madness for a moment,

but all too soon it ends.

Shall we

ride again?

About This Poem

All my life I've loved roller coasters. When my daughters and I would visit amusement parks, we'd ride all the coasters; oftentimes, more than once around.

When it was still affordable, we'd buy season tickets to the park, and that way, we could take multiple trips during the year, with a single focus each day: no pressure to race about trying to fit in all the rides. We'd say, "Today, we're just going to ride coasters," or "this time, we're going to go on all the 'get wet' rides." Sometimes, we'd have a day where we just went to take pictures

Later on, I learned about ACE: American Coaster Enthusiasts. As a group with a huge membership, they are n ot only about riding all types, but also about preserving the old historical wooden coasters.

If I had the budget for travel, I'd join them at Coaster Con, and for their events at various parks to ride coasters all the time!

The poem was originally written in July of 1988, and has received only one minor edit, in March of 2018.