The Circus

Larry D. Thomas

The Big Top

Toward the grinding stars,
to the creaks of winches and pulleys,
they raised it on three huge poles
and secured its edges with iron stakes

sledgehammer-driven
deep into the heart of the earth.
It looms in moonglow, quiet as a tomb
of heavy cloth. In a matter of hours,

at showtime, it will glow in the night
like precious stones roiling in the dark,
cupped hand of a gypsy,
its canvas sides undulant

with the exhaled breath of elephants.




 

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