Notes About The Poem

4/23/2025 for Tears of a Clown Poetry Contest sponsored by Robert James Liguori

Tears of a Clown

Inspired by the Iron Maiden Song, Tears of a Clown

Drinking, he recalled the Circus Grim,
and the strange world that ruined him.  
He had done anything for a laugh.
Once, the magician sawed him in half.
He'd traveled the whole country round. 
Now tears fall from the circus clown.

An orphan child, running from disaster,
fell into the service of a cruel ringmaster.
At first, he was never seen on stage,
laboring to clean a hungry lion's cage. 
In dreams, he wore a jewelled crown,
and he rose to fame and renown.

The juggler, fire-eater and contortionist,
joked with him and the beauty he loved best.
It was then, a drunken challenge, he made, 
and, to his surprise she accepted, unafraid.
She caught his eye as she came down,
a moment frozen for a circus clown. 

His secret love, he thought, flew like a dove,
enchanting him, like an angel above. 
No matter how he tries, he won't forget, 
the trapeze girl who missed the net. 
He'll swill whisky until he drowns
in tears, the broken-hearted circus clown.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2025

Poem

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Greenhough Avatar
April 26, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Lol. This is a favorite. You come up with great stuff.
Crandall Avatar
April 27, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Thanks, Glad you liked it Hilda!
Wolf Avatar
April 24, 2025 at 8:31 PM
You never know about clowns... Knew one in Israel, a CEO of an aeronautics firm, who donned 'the uniform' for a rehab hospital full of kids injured by M-E bombs. He was not funny at all 'til he got that clown-suit on... Then he was really a great clown. Who knew?
Crandall Avatar
April 25, 2025 at 5:42 PM
That's pretty good when a CEO can put on a clown suit. In a strange way, it increases my respect for him.
Daniel Avatar
April 23, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Wow! Brilliant concept and the sadness seeps through, David, well penned:)
Crandall Avatar
April 24, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Thanks Joanna. I like that purple bird! :-)
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