SENTIMENT IN SANTA CRUZ
cotton candy and carnival rides, stretched across the boardwalk tides
youth felt eternal under carousel lights, dizzy and dazed, I lost my sight
clowns and jokers crowded in, taking me for another spin
twirled me fast into duress, their face paint and evil stained my dress
stuck in the house of mirrors and scares, they took my innocence, this isn’t fair
found an escape through a trap door, only to end up wanting more
now I wear a smeared rouge smile, succumbed to a vicious loop of denial