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.