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Pagliacci

Of course, a clown
is always clowning
as poets paint their write -- 
before with pen and ink

dip we nibs wells of performance

transforming dark ink
to colorful spectacle in showtime
spot of light -- like the pancake 

our many harlequins, 

like Arora, a rainbow
after cloudburst
real tears or daisy squirt?

we apply our big-top makeup

to cover-up and hide

otherwise unmanageable crowds

of deeply incised hurt --

Copyright © Joe Dimino | Year Posted 2025

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Andrea Dietrich Date: 6/3/2025 10:41:00 PM Our big top makeup. Great line. Our art like a circus show! Login to Reply Joe Dimino Date: 6/4/2025 9:10:00 AM Thank you, Andrea; have a beautiful writing day! Center Ring, on with the show!!

Gershon Wolf Date: 5/26/2025 8:24:00 PM Oh, what a gut-punch of pure truth you've delivered here to the tortured souls behind the masks. Bravo, Joe! Login to Reply Joe Dimino Date: 5/27/2025 4:52:00 PM Hi Gershon; on with the show! Thank you, my friend.

Paula Goldsmith Date: 5/12/2025 1:39:00 PM What a powerful write you have here. Just like clowns, I guess we all wear makeup of some kind. Have a wonderful day/week writing away............. Login to Reply Joe Dimino Date: 5/12/2025 10:29:00 PM We imagine what we should be.... Thank you, Paula. Have a blessed writing week!

Hilda Greenhough Date: 5/12/2025 8:13:00 AM I like your poem. Circus was always a false reality but quick getaway during summer months. Thanks for the memories. Login to Reply Joe Dimino Date: 5/12/2025 10:38:00 PM Thirty of my first forty years, was a torturous circus I would not wish on anyone. The next near 50 have been interesting, to say the least. Thank you, Hilda.

Joe Maverick Date: 5/9/2025 11:15:00 AM The last line really 'cuts it' Joe Dimino...For me Amyway.? Also other very good metaphors in Its creative lines..' Login to Reply Joe Dimino Date: 5/9/2025 1:17:00 PM Hi Joe; thank you. Hope all is well with you, and you are getting some needed rest. Blessings my friend.

Silent One Date: 5/8/2025 6:22:00 AM Your poems are always so much deeper than the words you display, I guess just like the smile of a clown.... so many cover up and hide, yet special ones see them... no matter how large the crowd... great analogy my friend.. Login to Reply Joe Dimino Date: 5/8/2025 5:57:00 PM Hi Si; so pleased you found this work worth a read. I love to write. Thank you for the encouragement.

Anne-Lise Andresen Date: 5/8/2025 5:48:00 AM - Not showing who one really is ... cover-up and hide behind a mask ... often natural for us humans, Joe :) - hugs Login to Reply Joe Dimino Date: 5/8/2025 6:00:00 PM None are immune. Individual personality, in a sense, is a mask...for God is in and behind everything, ourselves made of God Substance -- we are illusions of individuality -- masks of God.