John Marshall School Carnival

On a winter night,

classrooms convert to carnival,

tables set with games and treats.

Tickets change hands

to toss ping pong balls

at water-filled fishbowls,

some teeter at the rim.

Parents bring decorated cakes.

For the cake walk

we circle numbered squares,

while music plays.

When it stops

we win what’s on our square,

hoping for a cake, maybe even cupcakes.

We cast a line over a bedsheet screen.

The pole bends as we jiggle the line.

On the other side, a parent

clips a small toy or treat to the hook

then gives a tug to signal a bite.

We reel it in, eyes fixed on the prize.

Laughter carries down the hall.

Windows glow into the dark,

bright squares spill out on the snow.

Paper plates bend under cake and frosting.

Goldfish swim home in plastic bags.

REVISED 03/04/26

Best Night of the Year

Dad brings me back to school after dinner.
Windows at John Marshall school glow
warm against the snow.
We climb the steps
into classrooms turned carnival,
the PTA in full bloom.

A few dimes and a quarter
buy a string of red tickets.

In third grade, Mrs. Yensh
stands before a hanging bedsheet.
I cast my line over the top,
a tug, a bite!
Reel in a prize I can’t remember,
only that I want it.

In fourth grade, fish bowls wait,
water dyed pink, yellow, blue.
Goldfish circle in each small world.
One ticket, three ping pong balls.
One bounces off the rim
and chatters across the floor,
one teeters, falls,
one lucky kersplash
lands in the center.

Cake walk squares
taped to the school kitchen floor.
Music plays.
We step and step,
until it stops.

Paper plates bend under cake and frosting.
Snow keeps the light.
Goldfish swim home in plastic bags.