It’s Over
The big top’s empty now.
The crowd’s gone home.
The trainer’s put down his whip
and lions and tigers are safely
asleep back in their cages.
Dim are lime and spotlights.
Yellow glow caravan windows
as juggler and clowns wipe
clean their grease paint smiles,
strip off their sequined clothes,
and prepare for bed. One by one,
the lights go out until darkness
rules menagerie and circus.
Only in the heads of little boys
and girls do the dancers still dance,
the ponies still prance, the tamers
still crack their whips and hold up
their chairs to keep wild animals
glued to their perches, while high
above, in the bedroom’s canvas roof
wire walkers strut their stuff, above
white sheets and the safety nets
of Teddy clutched, and mattress.
rogermoorepoet 
I know you write this as an allegory, however coincidentally the Wringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus has folded it’s tents as well. Just last week was the final performance. I’ve only ever been once to a circus, can you believe it? Have you read Water For Elephants? It’s one of the best books I’ll never read again….
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There was always magic within the ring and under the big top, but a certain sadness among the parked caravans and the caged animals. I will never forget the sour, stale smell of the menageries, especially near the cages of the flesh eaters.
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I can only imagine…
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Childhood: such a mixed bag of memories, the joy and the tears. A multitude of memories hide in the brain waiting for a tiny trigger to push them forward into the light.
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It’s very strange, the things that surface!
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That’s why it’s so important to use the methods of the surrealists and to drag them back up from the depths to the surface. We are filled with creative treasure troves that far too many o us neither touch nor trust. That, in part, was what my seminars were about on the weekend.
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The dream state… that hazy world between wake and sleep. I have my notebook handy for the 3am revelations. And truly that is when most of it arises! There is an awful lot of darkness in that realm, however. It’s not that I don’t ‘trust’ it, I worry that everyone will think I’m crazy!
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That perceived craziness is the gift of creativity. The surrealists tried to copy it exactly as it was. The truly creative writer takes it, shapes it, and benefits from its wonderful insights.
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I aspire to that. Even finding a spark within the mundane!
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It’s like finding the raisins in the raisin bread!
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Roger I got your email and I checked my spam folder but nothing is there. I have no idea what is going on with your comments! How frustrating!! Keep trying and hopefully it will work itself out.
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A skilful allegory Roger. I always found circus rather sinister, probably because I read Nightmare Alley at far too young an age.
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It is indeed an allegory, one of the few I have consciously written. I don’t know Nightmare Alley, but I have never forgotten the sawdust, the lights, the applause and the smell of the circus animals.
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Nightmare is a very strange and feverish noir, also made into a noir movie. I recommend it.
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As a former circus artist, this one really speaks to me. Never got close to any wild animals, but the rest is fantastically relatable. I love it!
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It is wonderful to read your comment. Thank you so much. I was addicted to Chipperfield’s Circus back in the UK. A yearly event in my home town, acts and menagerie. Never forgotten, as you can see.
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That was sweet, Roger! Here’s to a sound, and circus-free, sleep!
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Thanks, Tanya. It’s an allegory. I should write bout allegory at some stage. It’s a great way of doing a double take on the world.
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I would enjoy reading that!
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I was going to write it today, but there’s to much happening in my little life.
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Have a wonderful weekend! I know you have a busy few days.
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The title says it all. It’s Over for the circus, at least the type represented in this charming poem.
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The circus lives on in our heads, Ana, just like the Christmas Pantomime!
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Thank heaven for that.
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