Tatters
Freckles fall from Tatters downtrodden countenance.
They fell like snow onto his chest below. Only one
landed on his nose, Rudolph-proud. He shared
Bozo’s hair - orange and red - a frenetic flair. Face
is narrow, pale - with blue eyes - used to be
pie in the sky blueberry…now Tatters is just blue.
Lips, thin and pink; eyebrows like charcoal crows.
Tatters donned his clown suit when he was twenty-one,
after he downed his first whiskey at the circus. A drunken
clown - is there any other - aren’t they funnier? Audience
applauds when he attempts a unicycle and when he rides
pink elephants. Now twenty-five he longs to shed
his jaundice billow of ruffles chained about his neck.
He will! He did! But alas it is too late. He’s not nearly
as funny…his elephant’s gray, but…
he still falls off his seat -
the crowd applauds at his insane antics
when he tumbles from the unicycle.
Only the redhead teen, with freckles,
sees a tattered-tear splashdown in the big tent.
Her sensitive hands will speak
as she depicts his suffering in indelible ink.
The clown gains serious applause - after all
his life’s framed in the teen’s blueberry eyes.
1/5/2023
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.
Please
Login
to post a comment
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a
Premium Membership.
