Tatters

The spotlight flashes fun on the sagged garb
An animated caricature in comical human figure
With miniature red sun stuck on the porcelain nose
Tramps around the circus pitch making silly jokes. 

The nimble body turns in flexed acrobatic moves 
Sleight of hands performs the perfect jugglery act 
But the labored buffoonery of the fragile jester
Falls flat as peels of stale joke on silent spectators. 

Before the neon lights go out in the last show
The slapsticks strip the paint off his sweaty face
Uncovering the trail of tears he has secretly cried
He sings a song on the lyric of his broken heart.

The urn of contained laughter explodes in the gallery
The applause hails Tatters, the grotesque clown of pathos.

_______________

January 6, 2023
Contest : Tatters
Sponsored by : Mystic Rose Rose
Copyright © | Year Posted 2023

Poem

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La France Avatar
January 6, 2023 at 10:03 AM
Subimal, so much emotion within your poem, love it and best of luck in the contest, Constance
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