—mechanical-amusement-toy museum in San Francisco, featuring coin-operated “Laffing Sal,” a larger-than-life papier-mâché woman who laughs hysterically
Laffing Sal’s arms jerk like marionette limbs.
Harmless! No shocks! A prize every time!
Turn handle to the right.
Are you the captain of your fate?
Harmless! No shocks! A prize every time!
The Mystic Ray tests love appeal.
Are you the captain of your fate?
Hold hand firmly down on plate.
The Mystic Ray tests love appeal.
Modern Vibra-Massage Chair relieves fatigue.
Hold hand firmly down on plate.
Ask the Mummy answers with a shriek.
Modern Vibra-Massage Chair relieves fatigue.
Insert coin, peer in.
Ask the Mummy answers with a shriek.
Reclining addicts heat their pipes in the miniature opium den.
Insert coin, peer in.
Watch a toothpick Ferris wheel spin and spin.
Reclining addicts heat their pipes in the miniature opium den.
Laffing Sal’s arms jerk like marionette limbs.
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lives in Seattle, where she is a freelance writer and editor, and the co-editor of the online poetry and art journal DMQ Review. She has a chapbook forthcoming this year from Dancing Girl Press, and a full-length poetry collection due in 2013 from Mayapple Press. Find out more from her website.
We’ve published five more poems by Manwaring: “Driving Across the University Bridge I Think About the Eyes of Dr. T. J. Eckleberg,” “Baton,” “Levitation,” “Snow Day,” and “Where Sadness Lives.”
