Unusual Circus

I can still hear

The laughter from the audience,

When the clown stepped in,

The middle ring.

The ring-master bellowed,

And screamed like a madman.

The audience clapped like

Crazed monkeys in a forgotten cage.

I sat, front row center,

And stared at the elephants eyes.

They held so many stories,

So many years.

I yearned to know what he knew.

Of Africa and invisible fire.

His captors and their strange

Torture, made him dance

And rear.

A captive performer.

I remember the fearsome tiger,

He growled and swatted at

The pretty lady with the whip,

And jumped into the flames.

This cruel circus of broken shapes,

I sat stoic written on my face.

Never do I want to enter the ring,

Of cruel and unusual pain.