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Thursday 14 January 2010

Classic Clown


.







Only light in the house beams on him, showing
Pindrop poise before the wall of noise moment;
There's quite a din before he falls on his sword.
Didn't someone say words are swords?

Tears flow. Last thing he sees is his life flashing
Before his eyes. Last things he hears are the vast
Basso of the cannon going off, his swift
Whistling explosion out of the barrel,

The lion tamer's laugh, the strange ballistics
As he soars over the highwire walker's pole
And out through the hole in the tent peak.
Heaven sent on this grim mission, he creates

A diversion that lasts till intermission,
Then jumps on his comic tricycle and rides.






The White Clown: Walt Kuhn, 1929 (National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

the clown rides his tiny trike out of the ring
behind the curtain where his life waits
a wife his partner eyes smiling as he rolls by
she at work repairing her costume
" how'se the house, sounds happy"
"yep, we eat tonight"
"why the tears then my clowny"
"cause the marks can't know the whole story"

human being said...

and who compared the poet to the man who walks on a rope?


ahhh....you know how it feels to bleed while writing and at the same time smile at people who think the s/word/s and the blood are fake and just there to entertain...


falling on my sword
think that's what i do
too...


Tom... is it the light that decides for the clown? is it the light that beams on/in him?

Anonymous said...

I am thinking, this is a beautiful piece of writing, you and only someone like you; could of written such!

TC said...

Thank you all for coming to my sadclown circus.

He seems to think the light beams on him, but this is probably a sign of his clownish misunderstanding, and simply reveals that he would prefer the shadows. The poise he appears to show is likewise a facade, covering his fears, but not very well. He has not a word to say, and in any case if he did, he would have to swallow it. But doing that is not part of his role, the sword swallower has taken the night off, and has gone away with the fire eater and the pretty lady who does handstands on a white horse.

TC said...

This is why clowns with limited vision should not be allowed on tricycles in the vicinity of cliffs.