circus portraits - part I

the clown worked at the circus.
there - over the years -
no one has ever seen
this clown's tears.

constantly smiling,
when slapped --
never fought back:
had to live up to his image,
make everyone laugh.

everyone in the circus,
from the director
to the lion,
thought that he was just
a super silly clown.

he earned a lot of money -
so, no complaints there.
yet working at this circus
was for him like hell.

he was like a volcano,
waiting to erupt.

a joke of the circus strongman
became
the last
straw.

well,
that
did it!

he put his foot down!

"firstly,
i'm a person.
and only then -
a clown.

"i
only
work
here,"

the clown said. in rage.

"this is just a clown's mask,
this is not my face. "

he
looked around
at the circus folks.

they
looked
down.

"no one
- ever ever -
will
slap
THIS clown."

everyone was silent
and
thought about this.
and
for the first time
- ever -
saw that a clown too has tears.

the strongman said "i'm sorry";
the lion tameress cried.

the show
was
cancelled
in the circus
that night.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• poem
• sad
• clown
• tears
• circus