Best Circus Poems
The travelling circus arrived in town
I bought some tickets for my family
We got there early for the matinee
At the entrance was a scary sad clown.
*
Like the scary sad clown who in the night
Would come and terrorize me in my dreams
Mom would be alerted by my loud screams
And stay beside me until the morns light.
*
For fifty years it has stayed in my mind
He had a white face with evil black eyes
Red striped trousers; a killer in disguise
In my mind they were evil of some kind.
*
The show began with the flying trapeze
We all got seated in the front row seats
They dazzled us with death defying feats
Forgot the clown and felt more at ease.
*
In the interval though; the clowns appeared
They were laughing and doing stupid things
Realized now that they were human beings
I just laughed and my demons disappeared.
Written 19th august 2019.
Writing Challenge 2, August 2019 - Enclosed Rhyme - Poetry Contest.
Sponsored by Dear Heart - Wiishkobi Ode.
Obadiah Slim, poor Circus Clown,
Always so sad, when the show came to town.
Wide painted smile and ruddy red nose,
Soaked to the skin by a rogue fire hose.
Falling off stilts, cream pie in his face
Wishing to dance, perform with some grace.
Chased by a man, dressed up as a bull,
Foam in his pants, till his trousers got full.
Mummy and Dad, Kids laughing out loud,
A sad little Joker who delighted the crowd.
Under painted smile, was hidden a frown,
Obadiah Slim the poor Circus Clown.
I hate the spectacle that makes a man of beast.
How can money make such a beast of man!
A bear in a tutu dancing for youyou,
balancing on a ball, riding a bicycle for a biscuit,
and [I imagine] bearing the whip, caged
by drunken clowns with their pants down,
and a man in a top hat twiddling his mustache
belongs in the woods.
It’s the twenty-first century: clowns are sad and the top hat is out.
Circus clown, don't let me down.
Why don't you clown around with me?
You are my laughter.
You are my smile.
So stay awhile and smile with me.
Circus clown, don't let me down.
Why don't you cut with the silly frown?
You are my laughter.
You are my smile.
So lift me off the ground.
Circus clown, don't let me down.
Why don't you clown around with me?
You make me smile.
You make me laugh.
You make me sit, and watch you dance.
Circus clown, circus clown.
Why don't you clown around with me.
You are my laughter.
You are my smile.
You are my sunshine.
So stay awhile, and smile with me.
So stay awhile and smile with me..
Circus Clown Song Poem By Kim Robin Edwards
Copyright 1983,2014..ALL rights reserved..
Big top three-ring-circus ferris wheel and sideshow freaks
Ringmaster draws your attention to the center ring
Presenting the bareback rider with a graceful fling
Silly clowns riding tricycles
Fierce animals and lion tamers
Elephants waiving their disclaimers
Cotton candy and merry-go-round
Trapeze acrobats dangling high in the air
Walking the tightrope without a care
No matter how it seems appearances can deceive
Though life is but a circus with its fireworks and flames
Behind the scenes might not always be fun and games
AP: Honorable Mention 2020
.
Where will the circus fall,
leaving giraffes homeless,
as pitched tents get pitched
and sideshow freaks
become the norm,
guessing someone’s weight
who doesn’t care
When the sun sets
tablecloth desires
on a silverware runway
with dishes made of gold
and wine glasses half full
are spilled in sad regrets
Will I walk alone
on a cobblestone road,
counting windows without shades
laced with flat screen televisions
tuned to the wrong channel,
reruns in Technicolor
Broadcasting seeded visions
in open fields of tall grass
when Eric Burdon sang
and cherry trees once stood
producing the fruit
of a past I no longer
want to see
Where will the circus fall,
where will I fall
If one room of writing I can never leave,
Than faithful I will remain.
Hopeful clown,
Dancing joy in books.
Paint my face with colorful ink,
Scrolls cloth me in bagginess.
Bringing a smile & laughter to overcome the pain,
Everyday living.
Lord,
My Witness indeed.
Looking down from the Heaven.
Lived I did,
Mostly dark moments.
My life past,
Overcast writings.
Living Sheol I thought could never be broken,
Ball & chain no more.
Therefore,
Help others,
My destiny?
Welcome little boy in me,
Time to play!
Lord,
Once in awhile he needs his nap.
Can the man take the pen?
Like every child he desires cookies & milk.
Cookies are the joices of others,
Milk to carry on after the reading in joyful hope.
So!
Here I am Monty Python,
I'm signing on the dotted line!
O?
By the way,
We'll discuss my pay later!
Clowns at the Abyss
I’m not a communist,
I’m a Democratic Socialist
Cries the independent Elitist
It’s a right to have healthcare
It’s a right to have welfare
Yet, funding for these generous proposals is no-where.
The clown behind the podium is a saint with your resources.
He proposes everyone pay their fair share, but more so by titan economic forces.
He hails we all work hard, or maybe not, assuming he is a party to the class of workhorses.
But the political party leaders are less like workhorses and more like jackasses.
For they too look down on their Animal Farm with tilted looking glasses.
Under their more-equal-than other proposals, in time all resources will be exhausted for the masses.
We have seen in the last century the million on million dead from empty promises given with a kiss.
We witnessed the suffering. Excuse me but was there something I missed?
If we cannot resist repeating our mistakes, like clowns we be, looking up from the bottom of an abyss.
Coveting is not a virtue.
You can vote your way into Socialism,
but you have to shoot your way out.
by Martin Braun
3/2/2020
A funny thing happened under the big top
Heard a great ruckus and decided to stop
Stuck in my head and a commotion rages
I saw animals free and people in cages
The hippos were on the flying trapeze
And the mini circus had lost all of its fleas
The monkeys are playing the part of the clowns
Throwing pies and chasing the children around
The gorilla is the hairy lady and the strong man
He is also the knife thrower and the juggler just because he can
Over there I hear the goats who are bleating
For they are swallowing swords and fire eating
You may think this is a joke
I see the giraffe way up on the tightrope
Another thing that is out of the norm
Is the zebra up on the high diving platform
The bears are on horses doing the trick riding
I see lions with bullwhips and the ringmaster is hiding
And just when I think I have seen it all
The elephant is now the human cannonball
You may think this leaves us sad
Or perhaps it makes people mad
It's the end of the circus you may fear
But for me I cant wait for the show next year
"Let's go see the circus", he said with glee.
So we went, we kids, my mother, and he.
I didn't want to go. It was late at night,
But agreed to go not wanting a fight.
Though it was late, the tent was still standing.
"Look! See the circus", he was demanding.
There was naught to see and we kept silent.
Regretting this trip, we stayed compliant.
Suddenly there was fast movement and noise,
Then out ran a bunch of roustabout boys.
Quickly the last Ringling Big Top was gone.
All of us were tired and starting to yawn.
So I missed the last circus that came to town.
I only saw the Big Top being torn down.
walking a tightrope
boos down here, cheers overhead
safety-net ~ vanished
Author Dana Redricks
May 22, 2019
Lord only you know the
struggles we face
The unseen battles we
face from within
Although our experiences
maybe the same, how we
cope with our difficulties
will never be the same
Life is like walking on a tight
rope while we're trying to
stay alive
For many life is a
balancing act;
that seems to drain us
especially for a single
parents but the struggles
is worth it own reward
We are only one person
with many roles which can
become an juggling act
Life is like a circus which we
all play our part
Like every circus there is
always that one clown
Children with candy floss and wands of bright plastic,
Anticipation of the big top fantastic -
“Affordable family fun!”
The circus has come to town.
A carnival and a frisson of people,
The smell of the diesel,
It's magical and visceral –
Intense.
There's a girl in hoop earrings
Stands ready and steady and poised at the entrance,
Beckons our queue, guides us on through.
Later in sky blue and diamonds,
She’ll balance the line
Of the high tight rope walk.
To the right, a big burly man,
A wandering vendor of neon lit sabres -
“As you've never seen him before!”
Will throw a precision of knives at his wife.
Twenty years she has whirled in her satin and modesty chiffon,
On her own wheel of fortune.
To the left, there's a girl in an ordinary sweatshirt,
Wide spangled hairband, at a stand where pink sugar is spun.
Soon, she'll be spectacular!
Twirling on ribbons and ropes.
Belief suspended on the thrill of her peril,
Her grace.
We’ll be spellbound.
Sounds surround us as we take our seats ringside,
The beautiful boy selling programmes
Will descend,
Perform a daredevil act.
Our necks strained as we look
To the infinite blue of a tarpaulin sky -
Trapeze artist high -
He'll fly and he'll never grow older.
Dream big.
And then come the men,
Louder and bolder,
Selling bottomless buckets of popcorn and pop,
Sweet, salted and fizzy,
Between sets, they'll be busy.
A cascade of jugglers and clowns.
The big gestures of jesters and tumbling chaos -
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls!”
And too soon the showtime is over,
We spill back out into the park,
Blinking into the afternoon,
Rare and recount the fleeting visions of awe and wonder.
Tomorrow the circus will have packed up and gone.
Leaving behind just a fairy circle of flattened grass
And the ghosts of muddy tyre tracks.
The phenomenon known as a sneeze
Hits with major velocity. Jeez!
What a mess might ensue
If you heard an “A-choo!”
From the guy on the flying trapeze.
For The Sneezing Limerick Poetry Contest
hosted by ~Gwendolen~