The Burn Circus

Please don't stare any more - your eyes make the flesh peel ever faster To brother, I was "Little Blue Eyes" To daddy, "Babydoll". But there was always that strange uncle "Lost his sanity years back," sighs Mom. Blame it on war, loneliness, bankruptcy, Whatever it was, it wasn't okay He had odd little games to play. - but I was seven, could I have known? Some meant touching. Some were painful And by eight, I didn't want to play anymore I told someone about games. They took Uncle away. Only not soon enough The night before officers came He had one last game called Matches and Gasoline. I was It. In my sparkling tiara Ballet slippers and fairy's wand I wanted to one day be someone's Unforgettable A third grader, eyes boring into a hospital mirror. Who unraveled my suit of skin? In the ballet studio, a door slammed shut. The stage lights wouldn't shine for a candy-cane skinned dancer Grew up and was exactly what I wanted - Unforgettable. The unforgettable nightmare of young children The unforgettable modern-day Frankenstein, after they attempted to pick up my pieces - I'd rather just FORGET A one-girl circus freak show I still dance ...but only alone. Liquid skin, dripping from neck to knees Not half as painful as the heat of your stares.