a cynosure of all eyes
carrying danger
like a backpack
seasoned acrobat
thrilling all and sundry
with go-big-or-go-home feats on the trapeze.
he's done this countless times.
a life lived on the edge
flirting with disaster
each moment could be his last
the audience
on tenterhooks
watching him fly through the air
he's done this countless times.
all was copacetic just minutes ago.
amid all the rip-roaring...T H U D!
seasoned acrobat lies dead on the ground.
everything stops; a hush
suddenly falls over the circus.
it's stunningly unexpected...
but he's done this countless times!
he never saw it coming,
no one did
d e a t h
in an instant.
His life became part of mine.
His story became my story.
I felt the pain he endured
With great compassion.
I understood his reasons;
Why vengeance became an
Integral part of his life.
Why he couldn’t let it go
How it sustained him--
Kept him in a lucid state
Unaware of how it was
Damaging his inner spirit.
Slowly, very slowly over
The many years that passed
He adapted to walk with me,
And as grains of sand slip
Through a filled hand—
Grain by grain, little by little
His hatred grew less and less
And he began to live his life
Out of love, as his vengeance
Began to vanish like the few
Grains of sand left, abducted
By the restless winds of time.
He never saw it coming!
For Syed Amaan Ahmad's Free Style Contest
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.