Remembering Fairyland

From [the screams on hoffman drive] by Matthew Kremer


it is funny to walk past life
and figure it to be a place
unlike what it is.
for instance, mozy a
block northeast and find
yourself at the heart
of queens center mall,
one of the most profitable
in the entire united states,
according to those who
keep tabs on such things.
take back the clock
fifty or sixty years,
and the spot was an
amusement park for kids
known as 'fairyland.'
open year round, it seems
to have been a rinky-dink
spot you'd take the family
without having to travel
far or break the bank.
there was nothing
all that glamorous
about the rides.
from the pictures
i've run across,
there were boats
with little bells that
went round in a circle
and a wooden coaster
called the 'comet jr.'
that seems to have
been a main attraction.
the cost was predictably scant:
single tickets, good on any ride,
were priced at 14 cents
and were good for adult
or child admissions.
if the kids didn't act up,
you'd take them down to
wetson's for a milkshake.
the park was demolished
in 1968 to make way for
Hot Topic and Bling Bling.
you'd be hard pressed
to imagine the site
housing anything like
the squeals of children
in the nineteen sixties.